Early this morning we were awakened by a flash and a mighty roaring and shaking. Lightning had struck somewhere very close. The house shook, and a car alarm blared. I went downstairs to make certain that it wasn't one of our cars. It wasn't. I thought no more about it, and we went back to sleep. When the sun came up I noticed that there were firetrucks in the alley at the end of our block. Upon further examination, I saw firemen going in and out through a hole in the roof of the apartment building at the end of our block. Yes, lightning had struck very nearby indeed. Such a close call leads one to count his blessings. What if the lightning had struck our townhome rather than a building a couple of hundred yards to the west?

Live each day as though it were your last, the Bible says. The reality of that came a bit closer today than I would have preferred.