Burnin Down the House

If you haven't heard, my friend Jason Raitz and his family had their house burn down yesterday. They lost everything they own. There were no injuries to Jason's family or James, Jason's brother who lives with Jason. Jason and his family live around South Barrington area where Jason is employed as a youth pastor at Willow Creek church.

You can read the article in the paper here, which focuses more on the fact that it's Bill Hybel's house instead of the fact that 6 people lost their home and all of their possessions. They have renters insurance, which will take care of some of the stuff, but they're essentially starting from scratch with nothing more than the clothes on their back.

This is crazy to imagine, being a kid especially, and losing everything you own - everything from school, every toy, your matchbox car collection, your baseball cards, your cool t-shirts or a special gift from your grandparents.

If you don't know Jason or his family, he's one of the best guys in the world, no exaggeration. Jason has had so much crap happen to him over the past five years, stuff that would probably make anyone one else bitter and angry. Instead, Jay and his family continue to be humble, grateful and pursue God passionately.

Please pray for the Raitz family, for their kids and the impact of the loss, for the Raitz's housing and their stuff. Here's some stuff for the kids:

• Becca (9) - Arts and Crafts stuff, paint brushes, scissors
• Bobby (7) - Nintendo DS or any video game stuff
• Zach (5) - Nintendo DS or any video game stuff
• Maddie (1) - Stuffed animals and baby toys, farm animal play set

The family could use gift cards or money to help them get through this. Long term, they have to refurbish everything they own so kitchen stuff, furniture and spandex (which Jason loves to wear, particularly in pink0.

This is just a proud, bragging parent moment, but I'm going to share it anyways. I was talking with the family about some of the things we wanted to do for the Raitz's, including the boys, who lost their Nintendo DS's. Nate immediately volunteered to give Bobby his DS, which made me about as proud a dad as I could be.

You can also check out this Facebook group where people are posting details on how to help.