Shane's new beginning

I have been wanting to write this post for a while now, but I had to wait till it was official. And now it is.....

Since I have known Shane, he has always talked about how he would love to be a Police Officer or a Fire Fighter. Even though he had a job with their Family Buisness (which has been such a blessing) and was going to school to get a degree in Physical Education, he just felt like he had a calling to do something that really helped people. But to be either a police officer or fire fighter, it would require him to get more schooling and with us getting married it just didn't seem like the right timing. So his dream kind of got put on hold.

Then a little over a month ago Shane came to me saying that he really did feel like he was being called to be a fire fighter and wanted to get my opinion on it. I knew this was something he was very passionate about, so there was no doubt in my mind that this is something he should do. We were on our way out of town as we talked about this and decided we would really pray about it over the weekend. And here comes the crazy part that gives me the goosebumps everytime I think about it...

As we returned to Abilene on Sunday we headed straight to Shane's parents house. It was Father's day and we wanted to spend time with his family. His parents live on a few acres of land and as his mom was fixing dinner she happened to look out the window and see that in the distance there was a fire starting right beside where their land begins. It was fairly small and didn't seem like anything to worry to much about but the Shane, his dad, and brother decided they would go check it out and call the fire department. It seemed to be within minutes of them being gone that Shane's mom and I watched as the fire started to grow from a very small fire to a huge fire. Then we watched a big gust of wind take the fire onto his parent's land and start heading towards the house.  At this point you could smell the smoke inside the house and the fire seemed to keep on getting closer and closer...fast. This is when it hit us. This could get to the house. We starting running around the house grabbing pictures and valuables. Have you ever been asked the question if there was a fire in your house and you could grab one thing, what would it be? I never thought I would really have to do that. It was a crazy surreal moment that the Haught family could be about to lose their house and all the memories and things inside of it. A rush of emotions came over me for them.

Luckily, the house has a "tank" or pond around it that stopped the fire from getting to the house. This tank is actually the pond that Shane proposed to me at. Although the house was saved and the fire department was able to contain the fire from getting to their house or any others, it was very scary and surreal for a while there. The whole time this was happening Shane, his dad and brother were out trying to get the horses together and out of the fire. When he returned to the house we went on the balcony of the house to look out over the land and see all the damage the fire did. As we stood up there Shane said, "You know this whole weekend I have prayed about this decision to be a fire fighter and for God to give me a sign. It sure did seem like this was a sign God was giving him.

The next day Shane called the fire department to see if they were accepting applications for their training program. They told him that the applications for the next semester were suppose to be due last Friday, but they were extended the deadline to the next Friday. How ironic huh? Seemed to be just another sign. Shane applied and then the process started of interviews and tests. Shane did very well and as of yesterday found out he got into the program! I couldn't be more proud of him. He starts classes in August and will be in "training" for a year. The neat part is that he can continue working as he is in school for this. I am so excited for this new beginning for Shane. I know God has big plans for him and I can't wait to see what is in store for him!