A family in Cleveland, Texas, is eternally grateful to two mystery men who saved their lives when a fire broke out inside of their home in the middle of the night on Saturday; smoke alarms had failed to alert them to the blaze.
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These strangers reportedly pounded on Talicia Johnson’s door and windows around 3 a.m in an effort to wake her and her family up. Then, the men called 911 before leaving the scene, The Houston Chronicle reported.
“We think these strangers saved our lives. I believe that wholeheartedly,” Johnson told the outlet. “I think God had them at the right place at the right time.”
#FightingFireWithFaith
Posted by Talicia Belcher Johnson on Thursday, January 11, 2018
Johnson said in a Facebook post that she and her husband, Derrick, initially thought that the men banging on their windows were “a few crackheads needing a lesson.” But in the end she was filled with gratitude in finding out that they were two good samaritans who were simply there to save her family.
“They saved the lives of a family of 5,” Johnson said.
She’s now hoping that she can find these two men, who arrived at the house in separate vehicles, so that she can thank them for taking the time to risk their own safety for the sake of her and her family.
The family lost almost everything in the fire — photos, clothing, possessions and keepsakes from Johnson’s late father.
But while Johnson said that she was heartbroken to lose the keepsakes from her dad and grandma, she came to an incredible realization while rushing her kids next door to her mother’s house amid the blaze: material possessions don’t matter.
“I ran to my mom’s house next door when the fire started with my three kids and dropped them on her couch. My oldest daughter was holding the younger two kids as I prayed over them,” Johnson recalled. “I looked at them and realized that everything that was important to me was on that couch. Things are replaceable. My husband and kids aren’t.”
Have you ever been woken up by an angel or two? No, I did not wrestle one lol. Two men were banging on our windows to…
Posted by Talicia Belcher Johnson on Sunday, January 7, 2018
Johnson isn’t giving up on her faith amid the struggle, telling the Chronicle that she and her family went to church the day after the fire so that her 2-year-old son could get a Bible he was expecting to receive from the house of worship.
“I know that God has this,” she said. “He has my family in the palm of his hand and I don’t need to worry.”
Luckily, the community as well as the family’s church has rallied around the family, with Johnson saying that a friend wrote on Facebook that they are “fighting this fire with faith” — a sentiment she embraces.