Fire Update!

I just received word that Bro. Darin Sargent was able to return to his home today and there was no damage to his house or property. There was a lot of ash and debris, but no damage. Thank God!

See Bro. Sargents report! www.directiondefined.blogspot.com

On A Lighter Side.....

Thought we would share this funny story with you all as told by a friend of ours!



We had a "going away" party yesterday for a lady at our Little Rock claim office. One of the supervisors called a Wal-Mart and ordered the cake. He told them to write: "Best Wishes Suzanne" and underneath that write "We will miss you". As the picture shows, it didn't quite turn out right. It was too funny not to keep it.

Weather Helping, But Fires Continue

Edit: As of 9 p.m. tonight, Bro. Darin Sargent is not back into his house. They will spend another night at a local hotel. We continue to pray for a safe return to an undamaged home.

An amazing satellite shot of the fires in Southern California. We are praying for all those who have been impacted by the flames. Bro. & Sis. Gerald Buxton's house is ok. Bro. Darin Sargent and his family are still waiting to return to their house. They have been staying in a local hotel since being evacuated on Monday.

This report taken from KCAL9 News:

1 Million Evacuated From Raging SoCal Wildfires

(AP) SAN DIEGO Faced with unrelenting winds whipping wildfires into a frenzy across Southern California, firefighters conceded defeat on many fronts Tuesday to an unstoppable force that has chased an estimated 1 million people away.Unless the shrieking Santa Ana winds subside, and that's not expected for at least another day, fire crews say they can do little more than try to wait it out and react -- tamping out spot fires and chasing ribbons of airborne embers to keep new fires from flaring."If it's this big and blowing with as much wind as it's got, it'll go all the way to the ocean before it stops," said San Diego Fire Capt. Kirk Humphries. "We can save some stuff but we can't stop it.

"Tentacles of unpredictable, shifting flame have burned across nearly 600 square miles, killing one person, destroying more than 1,600 homes and prompting the biggest evacuation in California history, from north of Los Angeles, through San Diego to the Mexican border.Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said the flames were threatening 68,000 more homes."We have had an unfortunate situation that we've had three things come together: very dry areas, very hot weather and then a lot of wind," Schwarzenegger said. "And so this makes the perfect storm for a fire."

In Rancho Santa Fe, a suburb north of San Diego, houses burned just yards from where fire crews fought to contain flames engulfing other properties. In the mountain community of Lake Arrowhead, cabins and vacation homes went up in flames with no fire crews in sight."These winds are so strong, we're not trying to fight this fire," said firefighter Jim Gelrud, an engineer from Vista, Calif. "We're just trying to save the buildings."

More than a dozen wildfires blowing across Southern California since Sunday have also injured more than 45 people, including 21 firefighters. The U.S. Forest Service earlier reported a fire death in Los Angeles County's Santa Clarita area, but officials said Tuesday that information was erroneous.

The fires also forced the evacuation of more than 350,000 houses, most of them in San Diego County. With the area's average household size of 2.6 people, that means the evacuation could encompass nearly 910,000 people."It's basically a mass migration here in San Diego County. The numbers we're seeing are staggering," said Luis Monteagudo, a spokesman for the county's emergency effort.

President Bush, who planned to visit the region Thursday, declared a federal emergency for seven counties, a move that will speed disaster-relief efforts.

We've added more pics from our Italy trip!

Check out the new pics we have added to our Italy Trip post!

QUENCH Ladies Conference

This past Friday and Saturday I had the priviledge of speaking at the QUENCH Ladies Conference held at Capital Community Church in Ashburn, VA. where Chester Mitchell is the pastor. Marion Mitchell and her WOW Team hosted a great conference. Everything was first class. It was a neat experience to team up with Sis. Thetus Tenney, who has impacted my life since I was just a young girl. Sis. Tenney was at her best with her message on Saturday, LIFE JUST HAPPENS. I have had the priviledge of speaking a few times at Capital Community Church and it excites me each time to see the growth and all that God is doing there! Thanks to my friends, Chester and Marion Mitchell, the WOW Team, and Capital Community Church for your great hospitality and a great conference!

Fire Update

Got news today that my good friend, Darin Sargent who pastor's in Escondido, had to evacuate his home because of the fire. I had a chance to text him and he told me that they were fine and that his house was still safe from the flames. I told him we were praying for him and Duana and the kids. I don't know if any more of our pastors or people from our UPCI churches have been displaced. Our prayers are with them all!

Southern California Fires

We are experiencing several major brush fires here in So Cal. There are over 15 fires that I have heard of with 4 of them being classified as major fires with a lot of structures either threatened or already destroyed. Bro. & Sis. Buxton's home in Crestline is close to the Big Bear Fire. The weather conditions add to the voracity of the flames as the wind whips through the many brush filled canyons. Our cars here at home in Carson are covered with ash from the Irvine fire that is about 25 miles from here. We are praying for the Buxton's and for all the people who are impacted by the flames.

Italy Trip

In March, our family went to Italy on the SAM (Single Adult Ministry) Break-a-way trip to Italy. Debbie is the National Director for SAM. Our kids decided to go with us this year and we had a great time. Our trip first took us to Venice where we enjoyed the shops, restaurants and of course the gondolas. We then went to Florence, Pisa, Pompei and to Rome. Some of my favorite places in Rome: Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. The Vatican was very interesting and we were able to be in St. Peter's Square when the Pope addressed the crowd that had gathered. It was a great experience! I am putting together a slideshow of the trip that will be available soon. If you are interested in the 2008 SAM Break-a-way trip, it will be taking place on March 25 through April 1, 2008. The destination: London and Paris. For more information on the trip, go to the SAM website at : singles.upci.org.

First Entry

This is our first entry to our new blog. We have visited many great blogs and are going to try out one of our own. Life Saiz will be filled with events and happenings going on in the Saiz Family. We will have entries that we hope will be entertaining and just fun to follow. The Saiz family consists of Steve Sr., Debbie and Steve Jr. and our daughter Vanessa. We live in Carson, CA and pastor in the city of Torrance. Bayside Apostolic Center is the name of our church and we are excited about what God is doing here in our community. We love God and are in pursuit of fulfilling the purpose of God for our lives and church. We love our family and our friends. We hope to hear from you! Oh I forgot to mention two major parts of our family, Bauer and Chiquita. Bauer is our AKC Boxer who really doesn't know that he is a dog. Chiquita is my Mom and Dad's poodle with a "tude."

Our goal is to post regularly and let you all know what's going on with the Saiz's.

"You weren't an accident. You weren't mass produced. You aren't an assembly-line product. You were deliberately planned, specifically gifted, and lovingly positioned on the Earth by the Master Craftsman." Max Lucado