Recently, Rachel Martin was driving with her five children to the park, when she missed her turn and put her family car into reverse - and noticed that every warning light suddenly turned on.
Seconds later, she lost control of the steering wheel and was unable to brake, and as she slowed down and made it to the side of the road, white smoke started to emerge from the engine.
At this stage, her 11-year-old son got out of the car and saw a fire starting in the engine.
Rachel documented what happened next on her blog, Finding Joy: "That’s when I screamed for everyone to get out. That’s also when, in my not so brilliant thinking, I scraped my foot under the burning vehicle in an attempt to snuff out the fire that was burning on the ground."
She continued, explaining her relief at everyone being safe: "Which, now, due to my second degree burns and melted sock and shoe on my foot, was some type of fluid or gasoline. But my kids were out. And as I watched my van that was the first thing I owned on my own since my divorce, that had gone with me from Minnesota to Tennessee, that had all our stuff in it — go up into flames — I didn’t care."
The mother also went on to talk about material items, and reminded her readers that, at the end of the day - it is just stuff.
"My family was safe. Everyone at the park (with tonnes filming, probably for Facebook Live) was safe. Somehow, in this world, the stuff gets value. We work for stuff. We don’t want to lose stuff. But when the stuff gets taken and our family preserved — we quickly realise how much the stuff doesn’t matter."
Rachel went on to thank everyone involved in helping her and her family:
"Thankful for the goodness of humanity. So, I want to say thank you – to the people that helped me secure a one hundred feet perimeter until the firetruck arrived, to the firefighters and park rangers, to my friend Dan and his mother, Mary (who sat with me in the ER for three hours), and father Dave; for the kind grandmother who consoled my two little boys, for the sweet women who knew first aid who helped me with my foot, to the ER staff, and for my kids for being brave."
The message behind this post is simple: treasure the people in your life the most, because "stuff" can be fleeting, love is more important.
"Friends, you never know when you’ll be in a spot like this. Hug your family a bit tighter today. Love them. And in the end, remember that stuff doesn’t matter that much."
