The Sunday before Thanksgiving, Darrin George preached on Psalm 100:4 at Hilltop Fellowship Church, emphasizing gratitude. He added an illustration from James 1: “Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials”.
Little did the pastor know that the trial had already come.
Four Bibles and a devotional book, all family heirlooms, were among the only items salvageable from the home of Darrin and Ami George, which burned as Darrin preached a pre-Thanksgiving sermon.
“God wants your thanks, even in the middle of the fire,” George told the congregation of around 50.
Later in the sermon, he looked up to see his wife, Ami, standing at the rear of the church, an unusual occurrence because she was taking care of the church’s children. She motioned calmly. Pausing his message, George stepped down from the pulpit and walked toward Ami, who delivered the news: “The house is on fire.”
George recalled dropping his jacket, folding his glasses and telling the congregation what was happening while heading out the door to see what could be saved at the home, which sat on family land a two-minute drive from the church.
The congregation soon followed.
The couple lost everything. The house was paid for, but the bi-vocational pastor cut their home insurance after losing a second income.
But George said, “We’ve got clothes. We’ve got food. We’ve got what we need,” and we have seen God’s hand. Most definitely.”