Going from Bad to Worse

I don't even know how to begin this entry.   I've been trying to look at the bright side, and thanking God that things aren't worse . . . and then there's today.

Let me start this out by saying the Mik Chickens and Mik Duck are all OK.  

When I woke up and came down to my laptop, I checked out the patio door (like I always do), and saw what looked like snow blowing from the top of the chicken coop.  OK, it's windy out.  No big deal.   Half an hour later, Aaron and Abby went out to care for the chickens before going to school and found something that would stop anyone's heart!   There was a FIRE in chicken coop!       That "snow" that I thought was seeing was actually SMOKE!   Aaron opened the door and smoke poured out.  He saw a small fire in the straw and was able to stomp it out.  He then took a shovel and shoveled some snow onto the smoldering straw.   Next, he took the windows out so the smoke could clear and tried fanning it out.  Greg went out to take care of the rest, as the school bus was coming.  

We know what happened.  Sometime during the night, one of the "warming lights" that we have in the chicken coop broke from it's holder and fell to the straw-covered floor of the coop.   These lights get VERY hot, and it apparently smoldered a LONG time, at least long enough to fill the coop with smoke.  The actual fire appears to have only recently started by the time Aaron went out there to take care of them.  

As I said in the beginning, the chickens and duck are fine.  They were huddled in a corner on the floor of the coop as far away from the smoke as they could get.  It remains to be seen if any of them end up with respiratory problems  . . .    The only good news is that this happened in winter, when the straw is somewhat damp and the coop cannot be thoroughly cleaned out like in the summer.  If that straw had been very dry, the whole coop (and the animals) would have gone up in flames.  

Yea, that's scary!  

OK, so this has totally freaked me out today, but unfortunately, there's more.    

When Aaron came home and finished cleaning out the coop, they went to the barn to take care of the goats.  Our beloved baby goat, Spud is gone.   We don't know what happened or why.  I'm just so thoroughly heartbroken that I can't even think at this point.

I've been trying so hard to keep a positive note, and I'm thanking God that the entire chicken coop did not burn down, but it's getting difficult, to say the least.     In the past, when we've gone through difficult times, I've always tried to remember the saying "God doesn't give us more than we can handle."   Well, I'm DONE.  I've had enough and been tested enough.  I told God that this morning and REALLY said that again this evening, after learning about Spud.    Sometimes, I have this feeling that you just have to say "STOP!"   So, that's what I've done.  STOP!   I've had enough!  

If you wouldn't mind, a prayer or two for things to turn around for the Mik family would certainly help!   I know things can always be worse, but goodness, I may end up in a rubber room if they do!  

Hope everyone's having a better day than we are!  

Julie