The fire started on a Sunday. June Miller saw the smoke coming from the other side of the hill and knew she better be ready. “I had gone to early church and had the house packed,” she says. On Monday morning, Oct. 22, 2007, she saw it was coming toward her property. “I felt it was coming too fast,” she says. “So before the evacuation order was given, I said, ‘I have to get out now. And I was out.’ ”

As she left the home that she and her husband had built, she could see the flames. “The wind was blowing so bad that the fire was going every which way,” she says. “I was so frightened.”

Blessings in good times

This isn’t how June pictured her life turning out when she moved to California in 1950. Having just graduated from Ohio State’s nursing school, she headed west for a job at Long Beach Veteran’s Hospital. One day, during a game of water basketball between staff and patients, “I got socked in the eye and got a shiner,” says June. “Shortly after that I got a bouquet of flowers.”

That apology came from Harry Miller, an outpatient at the hospital. A few years before, Harry was involved in an oil rig accident that broke his back and left him in a wheelchair. The flowers he sent led to a first date, and then a second. June and Harry married in 1952.

The following years were filled with blessings. “He was an exceptional person,” says June. “He didn’t let his handicap stop him.” Harry had received a business degree and started his own tax service. He also served in local politics on the city council and the planning commission. After they had been married for a couple of years, they welcomed an unexpected blessing—a son. “He was truly a miracle,” says June.

They faced a few challenges too. In 1974, June was diagnosed with uterine cancer and went through radiation and surgery. When she was declared cancer free, June returned to work as a school nurse.

In 1986, Harry and June moved to Silverado, Calif., and they joined Living Word, Mission Viejo. They quickly became a blessing to the congregation. “Harry was the financial secretary and was an inspiration to all of us. He never complained,” says Dr. Allen Beyersdorf, pastor at Living Word. “June worked with him. She is a very energetic, faithful member.”

Blessings in trials

Counting their blessings was easy during the good times. But they inspired the congregation even more when they counted their blessings during a string of challenges.