Another close call

Charlie, at the recent 4th of July parade
James' family has been in town this last week and we have been having a ball spending time with them. We have been trying to come up with all sorts of fun things to wow them on their trip. On Friday we decided to take them up to Logan to see our new home and explore the beautiful area. However, before we even got out of Salt Lake City, we noticed a little car lose control and hit a Ford Explorer. Within seconds, the driver of the Explorer over-corrected and then flipped their car five times. This all happened right in front of us. While James tried to brake, their car's bouncing and crushing took up our entire view and we all braced ourselves for the hit that would make us a part of the horrific accident. However, miraculously, that hit never came. Our truck stopped just before hitting their crushed vehicle. I called 911 and James rushed to the aid of the bloody victims. As it turned out, the SUV was full of two mothers with their kids double buckled in the back seat. The mothers were pretty beat up, but out of the four little ones, only one had even a small cut.

With Charlie and our niece Sophie safe in our truck with their grandma, James handed me a young boy Mason's age to hold and sooth while the paramedics came. For the next 40 plus minutes I sat in the rubble with my little friend and felt overwhelmed with gratitude for our safety, and the relative safety of this poor group of children.

Earlier in the week, I watched one of the Mormon Messages with exerpts from a talk by Elder Holland on motherhood. In that talk, he said, "Mothers, cherish that role that is so uniquely yours, and for which Heaven itself sends angels to watch over you and your little ones."

As a mother, I have already had enough experiences to gratefully believe that our little boys are watched over by angels on a daily basis. However, what happened this weekend reminded me of this truth. Our truck has never stopped so quickly. We should have hit them with so much force that we should have all been badly hurt. It reminded me of one of my favorite scriptures in the Book of Mormon that says, "Know ye not that ye are in the hands of God? Know ye not that he hath all Power?(Mormon 5:23)." What a blessing it is to know that we, and especially our little children, are watched over by such a mighty and loving Father in Heaven who knows just how to bless us.