A Fireman's Prayer

My mom once asked me why I had a fire department emblem on the home screen of my cell phone. "You're not in the fire department," she stated.

Family table at SVFD breakfast

She's not altogether right.  While I am not certified or trained, I do not have plaques and awards, turn-outs, a radio, or even a T-shirt that says I belong to any certain fire department, I am part of a fireman's family. And when there is a fireman in the family, you are all a part the department.

JJ is a volunteer fireman. His children have all grown up around the fire department their whole lives. They want to be firemen. His cousin just asked him the other day how to become a firemen. My daughter wants to be a "fighter fighter" which is her word for a firefighter. 

When the call comes in at 1 am that there is a structure fire, and he grabs his bag with his turn-outs and helmet, boots, etc. and answers the call "2515 in route", your job is to pray. Structure fires are nothing to yawn at, especially at that hour when you would do the most yawning if you were still awake. You pray that he will be alert and on top of his game, that he will not only watch his own back, but that he has the back of his brother firemen, that they have his back.

When he speeds off in the pouring rain with his flashers on to get to the station and get Engine 1 running, you pray that he doesn't hydroplane or end up in a wreck himself. You almost want to go with him to make sure he is allright. You can't. You don't know if he will make it back. You can't control what happens. But you can pray.

Now, prayer for me at this hour comes while cleaning the kitchen, which is how I expell a bunch of nervous energy.

Then prayer comes most ardently when he calls and says that everything is okay. "I'm on the way home."