New Adventures

By Grace

Life.  The greatest frontier.  These are the adventures of the household of Penningtons.  And their ongoing mission — to explore strange, new situations.  To seek out new projects, and new opportunities.  To boldly go where no one has gone before!

That doesn’t sound copied in any way does it?  What?  I’ve been watching too much Star Trek?  Where would you get an idea like that?

We’re always getting ourselves into weird and new adventures.  One of these came the other night when our parents were away at a meeting.  We’ve been home alone lots of times, and nothing has ever gone wrong.  With a twenty-year old and an eighteen-year old around to keep the other various aged children in line, what could go wrong?

For most of the evening, nothing did.  We laughed until we cried at the dinner table, did the animals, cleaned up, played with the little boys, and then put them to bed.  Then the five older kids settled in with our computers for our weekly “Writer’s Night.”  We had a lovely, profitable time.  Then we made sure the house was straight, and were on our way to bed.

Then Faith was helping me check on everything when she said, “Why do I smell gas?”

Alarmed, we checked the gas stove — sure enough, one of the burners was on, but the spark had not been lit.  It had been on since we cooked the taco meat for dinner, three hours before.

It’s one of those things I’m always thinking, “What will I do if that happens?”  I envision how it will go:  I will calmly gather the children together and authoritatively herd them outside out of the way of the toxic fumes.  Then I’ll get out my cell phone (which I will have had the foresight to put in my pocket on the way out), call my dad and say, “Father, I’m sorry to say that the gas has been leaking for three hours, but I had the presence of mind to get everyone out of the house, and the foresight to put my cell phone in my pocket on the way out.”  And he will say, “Alright, dear.  I’ll be home in an instant.  Excellent work!”

That’s how it went in my mind.  In real life, I stood there staring at the dial, panicked.  What was I supposed to do when this happened?  Had I been told?  What should I do to avoid blowing the house up?

I very carefully turned the gas off after a few seconds, and quickly ordered everyone to stay away from all light switches and plugs, then I opened all the windows and texted Daddy to tell him what had happened.  (Note: if this happens to you, do not use your cell phone; it could make a spark, I was later informed.)  He told us to get out of the house and go to the guesthouse in the back, so we woke up the boys and went.  Once over there, my presence of mind returned, and I tucked three little boys in bed, while the baby lay on the couch half-awake watching a Winnie-the-Pooh movie.

Everything was fine, Daddy came home and made sure the gas was gone, and we all came back to the house and went to bed.  But it was a somewhat nerve-wracking experience, and I am so very grateful that God protected us and our house from our carelessness!

And the next time we go on our way, seeking out new adventures and boldly going where no one has gone before, we’ll check the gas stove first.