Angels to Watch Over
Them
“And as they looked to behold they
cast their eyes towards heaven, and they saw the heavens open, and they saw
angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came
down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled
about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them.” – 3 Nephi 17:24
I
have absolutely no doubt that our Heavenly Father loves our little ones. His
little ones. Some of the most tender
mercies I have witnessed have surrounded my children. I often say I have no idea how people manage
to raise children without the gospel and the whisperings of the Holy
Ghost. I can recall more than one
occasion when my children’s very lives have been preserved by the grace of
God.
Tori
was only a week old when she began making a sharp wheezing sound as she
breathed in. It would come and go, but
as a new mother, one with little to no experience with babies, it was
terrifying. On three separate occasions,
I took her in to our pediatrician. I
explained that she had episodes of wheezing and that she was retracting as she
tried to inhale. The doctor looked at
Tori, breathing just fine in my arms, and gave me a knowing smile. “This is your first baby, right?” And with that, I was dismissed as an overly
concerned new mom and sent on my way.
Each time I brought her in, his condescension thickened. I hadn’t even made it home after the third
appointment when Tori started wheezing in her car seat. I burst into tears. I reached home and for the first time as a
parent, I fell to my knees for my child.
I told Heavenly Father that I knew
something was not right, told Him how scared I was and how helpless I felt, and
begged him to show me what to do. I had
not even risen to my feet when the phone rang.
It was Heidi calling, who had heard from Mom that Tori was sick and that
I was taking her to Dr. Jones. She told
me this was the same doctor who had diagnosed Heidi with “paranoid new mom
syndrome” when Mason was a baby and missed the hole in his heart that landed
him in emergency surgery. She urged me
to get a second opinion. When I did, we
found out that Tori had pneumonia and were able to receive the care she needed.
When
Tori was two and a half, we experienced our second miracle that preserved her
life. We had just moved to Florida and
were enjoying a ward activity on the beach.
Tori was playing in the sand at the water’s edge, splashing and
exploring with sheer toddler glee. The
tide was strange that day, making the water knee deep for the first 30 yards or
so. She was wearing a swimsuit with a built-in
flotation device, and seemed content to look for shells in the sand. I got caught up in conversation and was
talking to a sister in the ward when I heard a voice prompt urgently, “turn
around right now!” I was surprised, since I usually do not
receive revelation in such an obvious manner.
I spun around and saw Tori, all the way out where the water began to get
deep. With each wave, water was crashing
over her head and she was gasping for air.
I began running, but getting through the water felt agonizingly slow. When I was still about twenty feet from
reaching her, I watched helplessly as she went completely under. I could see her eyes wide with terror, her
mouth opening and closing in a desperate attempt to find air. I fought my way madly across the remaining
distance, snatched her out of the water and pounded her back as she coughed up mouthfuls
of ocean. Exhausted, she immediately
fell asleep on my shoulder. I carried
her back to shore, sobbing and not willing to let anyone take her from my arms
for a long time. As she slept, all I
could do was pray a prayer of gratitude repeatedly as I shook with the knowledge
that I would have lost her had I not received that prompting.
Tori
is not my only child to be saved by the tender mercies of the Lord. I was with the kids and Mom and Dad at
Yellowstone when we stopped at Artist Point.
The cliffs surrounding the waterfall are beautifully sheer and
rugged. Dangerously so. The bars of the safety rails are spread far
apart…not much of a deterrent for a three-year-old. I was holding Aaron’s hand tightly, trying to
take a picture of the beautiful falls with my free hand. I let go of his hand for just a moment to
adjust a setting on my camera, and he bolted.
I looked up in horror to see that he had already darted under the fence
and was less than two feet away from a sheer drop off. In between him and the ledge, a large root
protruded from the ground. One wrong
step and he would trip and go over the edge.
I knelt calmly next to the railing and smiled at him, quietly asking him
to come hold my outstretched hand. Expecting
more of a chase, he seemed to deflate, and came right over to me. As soon as his hand was in mine, I began to
shake. As I held him tightly, I realized
what a miraculous blessing it had been that I had stayed calm. I’m not a naturally “calm” person, and to
remain so in that situation was truly divine intervention. I have no doubt that had I screamed or yelled
he would have thought that it was a game and turned and ran – right off that cliff. That night as I prayed, the only thing I
could say was, “Thank-you” over and over again.
I was too shaken to form any other words.
My
children are true miracles and blessings in my life. It scares me at times, the immense love I
feel for them. I know, however, that as
much as I love them, my Heavenly Father loves them infinitely more. He is with me in this journey of raising and
teaching them, and makes up for my shortcomings as a mother on a daily
basis. I am thankful for all of His
mercies in helping them to become incredible children in spite of my weaknesses
and especially for preserving their safety and even their lives on multiple
occasions.
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