Thank you God!

   This past weekend was one that showed us just how amazing God really is. On Saturday night Nathans brothers family was in an accident on their way home from a Christmas celebration. They were driving home on the snowy roads, lost control and hit a cement post totaling their van. The post hit just between the passenger side and Morgans(our niece) car-seat, missing Morgan by inches. Thankfully they all walked away unharmed.  When you hear stories like this it is a wake-up call to remember just how amazing God really is!! We are so thankful that he was watching over them and keeping them safe in a time like this.
  Unfortunately that was not the only wake-up call that we got this weekend. Around 12:30 on Sunday night we were woken up with a phone call from our sister-in-law Mandy. She called Nathan to tell him that his parents barn was on fire and all of the good sows(female pigs) were in that barn. Nathan and I just laid there in shock. We did not know the whole story, but we were hoping and praying that everyone was safe and the pigs were ok. We called his mom to get the whole story and unfortunately the the news was not good.
   As Nathan's dad got home from Mark's house he saw flames in the window of the barn. Risking his life- he ran into the barn to try and get the pigs(whom they had just put in the barn about an hour before that) out. He was able to get to the first pin, get it open and the pig out. As he went back in to get the others he quickly realized it was to dangerous for him to be there and got out- having to the leave the pigs behind.
 After talking to his brother on the phone Nathan was ready to jump in the car and drive home- however, after many prayers and a little discussion we decided that it was safer if we got a few hours of sleep and headed there in the morning. Monday morning as we drove back to his parents to be with our family as they faced emotional times and lots of clean-up
 This experience was devastating to everyone. This was the barn that Nathan, his brother Mark, and his dad had spent many many hours of their life piggin' in. That barn is now used by Mark and his dad for their show pig business. Now I am sure many of you are thinking 'well Erin, its just pigs and an old barn- there are other pigs out there'. Well, its not just pigs. Not for the Taulman family. Its a HUGE part of their life and these animals are part of their family. There were 10 great pigs in that barn and  ALOT of money and time had been spent on each one. It has been really hard trying to understand and comprehend all of this. Lots of tears have been shed and questions asked but thankfully everyone is safe, we have our faith and family to lean on and we know that God has a plan for everything.