Angels watching over us...

I want to share an experience that happened this past week. On Memorial Day, we always go to my parents' home in Bluffdale for a big family BBQ. My parents live in a gully on Redwood Road in Bluffdale which is currently being torn completely apart as they turn the 2 lane road into a 5 lane road. It is a huge mess. Fortunately, my parents' home is back off the road quite a ways. They have a huge beautiful back yard that the kids love to play in. We rarely have to worry about the kids because there is so much land for them to play on.

On Monday, Memorial Day, we were all gathered together. We had eaten dinner and were cleaning up, visiting, etc. Most of the kids were playing in the yard and a few family members decided to take a walk over by the road to see the new tunnel they were constructing under the road. I didn't think much of it and continued helping with clean up. And then, that "Mommy Instinct" hit me like a brick. Where is Ashlee!? She had been in the back yard just a few moments earlier. Usually with Ashlee, I don't panic. We have learned that panicking with Ashlee doesn't do a whole lot of good. But this time was different. It is hard to explain, but it is like I knew she was in danger. At this point, I offered up a very quick but very sincere prayer that she would be safe and watched over. These "Mommy Prayers" may be short, but any mother who has said one, knows that there is true faith and sincerity in those prayers and that God listens. We immediately began searching the yard, the back gully, etc. and then it dawned on me - could she have followed the group over to the road? Just the thought of it made my stomach sink. That is such a busy busy road, especially on Memorial Day and with the construction going on, there is absolutely NO sidewalk.

My niece had her cell phone and quickly called her husband who was at the tunnel. He told us that yes, Ashlee was with them, and she was fine. I breathed a sigh of relief and called off the search efforts.

It wasn't until later that afternoon that I got the whole story. Ashlee didn't actually go with the group, she actually followed the group without any of them knowing it. In order to get down to the tunnel, they had to go down a very steep incline with loose dirt and to make it more risky, there was a fast moving irrigation ditch that was very full and very deep that day at the bottom of the gully. My older brother, Shawn, and his daughter were the last of the group to head down the hill, or so they thought. At this point, Shawn felt a very strong prompting that there was someone following behind them. He asked his daughter if she had seen anyone and she said no. Shawn could have continued on, but as he told me later, the Lord gave him a strong prompting and was persistent in that prompting. He turned back around and went back up the hill. There was Ashlee, literally hanging off of a rock. It was too steep for her and she must have slipped. If she would have let go, she would have gone right down the hill and into the running water. I shutter to think how it could have ended.

As I tucked her into bed that night, I said another "Mommy Prayer". Only this time it wasn't rushed or quick. It was a prayer of sincere gratitude. I was thankful that my little girl was safe. I was thankful that I had a brother who was in tune with the Spirit and listened to the prompting that was given to him. I was grateful that my earlier prayer to keep Ashlee safe was so directly answered. And I was grateful that there were angels watching over my little girl that day, helping her to hang on, until another angel, my brother, could get to her.