Twenty Years Down the Tubes

Yesterday we had the furnace cleaned. The guy arrived before I got home from school so there was this huge truck in the driveway with these 9 black cylinders sticking up out of the bed of the truck. A 12 inch hose went up the front steps, into the house, and down the stairs. The cats were all croutch in a corner because of the noise of the super vacumm cleaner. Things sounded pretty normal and then THUMP! Something big went through the pipe. I quickly checked to make sure we still had three cats. Then THUMP again and again! Finally the technician came up to be paid. I could tell he wanted to say something but was being very polite. I asked "Just how often should we have the furnace cleaned like this? "More often then you have been" was his reply. We have never had the furnace cleaned in the 20 years we have lived in this house. He said it should be done every two years. Boy did we get our moneys worth. He said that he didn't know how we were so luck that the oily soot in the chimney had not collapsed. When the soot is a thick as our was the soot collapses on its self and then every air vent in your house shoots out the black oily soot. This also causes the furnace to vent into the house. If it would have done this one day while we were at work the first person to enter the house would have died from carbon monoxide gas. I am feeling very blessed today that Heavenly Father watches over us; I think he has to work overtime for us sometimes.