"Sprinklers, limestone plaster, frame repellant window gel, and a hand-poured concrete basement. This is what Chris Arai used to withstand the fires. 

"Wildfires have burnt thousands of California homes to the ground in recent years.

"Engineer Chris Arai has spent more than 15 years fireproofing his Sonoma County home, outfitting it with a gas-powered sprinkler system, flame-repellant window gel, and a concrete basement he poured by hand.

"When the Kincade Fire ripped through Arai's rural community last year, the engineer's home was the only one that survived the blaze."

I've just finished two long days of putting up storm shutters, stocking up on supplies, and dragging lawn furniture into my house, all in preparation for the arrival of Hurricane Matthew. But while I was scrambling, there was one man on our block who had time to chat with the neighbors, and even offer help to several families that found themselves rushing to finish before the Category 4 Storm arrived.

The reason this man wasn't harried like the rest of us was because he was well prepared. His supplies were purchased early, he installed accordion shutters years ago to avoid the time consuming process of putting up the old-fashioned drill-in kind, he filled his cars and generator with gasoline long before the lines formed, and was now enjoying the fruits of his labors (and so were his neighbors!).

On the morning of September 11, 2001, Todd Beamer was a passenger aboard the ill-fated United Airlines Flight 93 that 9-1-1 hijackers commandeered and ultimately planted, nose first, into the Pennsylvania countryside. It was Todd’s words that morning that became a battle cry for all those, in the coming weeks, months, and even years, who would stand up to oppose terror and fight for freedom. “Let’s roll!” were his words, as he and others led a charge against the cockpit.

Todd left a wife, Lisa, and two young sons. Lisa would go on to right a book, fittingly titled LET’S ROLL, in which she discusses the many ways in which the Lord sustained her in the days after Todd’s death. She recounts how uncomfortable she was being instantly thrust into the limelight. She questioned her ability to meet the challenges. 

On one occasion, shortly after the crash, she was asked to speak to a group of some 25,000 women gathered at a spiritual conference at the Core States Arena in Philadelphia. “I had wanted to remain as inconspicuous as possible, but Mordecai’s rejoinder to Esther—“Who knows? Maybe God has you here for such a time as this”—echoed through my mind.” 

She thought back to the ways God always seemed to prepare her to face whatever His plans might be. She recalled how, after Todd’s death, they needed to clean out his car. Among the gum wrappers and gas receipts, they also found a stack of Bible memory cards in the armrest tray that he worked on while driving. 

The top card on the stack, the one that he might have read on September 11, was Romans 11:33-36:

O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,’and his paths beyond tracing out!
“Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?” 
“Who has ever given to God, 
that God should repay him?”
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.

It was the exact passage of Scripture that had helped me through my questions following my dad’s death; the same passage I’d been reminded of at Wheaton College [where Todd and Lisa met]; and the very passage that had been my memory verses for the Bible study I was preparing … the week before Todd died.

Now, facing the request to speak to such a large crowd of women, she felt confident that God had indeed prepared her for such a time as this.