Angels Helping Me (Both Seen and Unseen)

Where, oh where are the extra hours I need in my day?

Today has been crazy. I was looking forward to my Monday-- it's Terence's day off and any day when I can look forward to his help all day is a blessing. But last night Terence got called right back out for work just after he had walked in the door. When he got home he fed S (about 5 am) which I'm very grateful for. But he had had very little sleep so I felt so bad asking anything of him at all. As it was, I left K and S in his care and went to volunteer for a couple of hours in M's class this morning.

(That was actually a nice change of pace. All I did was grade papers but I got to use my brain a little bit and chat some with M's teacher while getting a first-hand look at what she was learning. And I really like M's teacher this year!)

But then the grind really got going. I raced back home from the school (20 minute drive), picked up K and S and made another 20 minute drive to Staples to pick up M's butterfly scrapbook project, which we had sent to be printed out there. Then I picked up fast food lunch for all the kids (healthy, I know) and went to pick up the older 3 from school. From there we went directly to Walmart to tackle the grocery shopping.

With all five kids. In the midst of a hugely crowded store. Where did all those people come from? I always go shopping on Mondays, and it's never that busy. Is everybody doing their Christmas dinner shopping Monday afternoon, three weeks before Christmas? Did I miss something?

Back home I put away the groceries, fed S, and tried to get her to go to sleep. Then I put her in the swing and tackled making dinner (chicken, rice & stuffing casserole). Terence took J and left to go to the gym-- he won't be home until about 10pm tonight, since after the gym he will head to my sister's house to watch her kids while she is at school. So I had no choice but to listen to S wail (she didn't stay asleep, go figure) while I tossed the dinner together and stuck it in the oven. All through this I've had a raging headache that my prescription headache meds cannot touch.

Calgon, take me away!

Well, a bubble bath and some peace and quiet would probably help, but instead I am blogging with a now-calm (and sleeping) infant on my chest. B should be here in a moment for me to help with her homework-- multitasking is a way of life with kids. But though my day has been hectic and almost grueling, I can't help but be grateful.

Why?

Let me tell you a little experience from last week. (I only learned the full details yesterday at church.) One afternoon I was feeling exceptionally exhausted and my eyes were refusing to stay open. This was after Terence had gone to work, so I took S in my room with me, and put M in charge of watching K. Just after I did that, I heard the front screen door slam and knew, even though my brain was hazy, that K was probably escaping the house. I called J and M and ordered them to go after their brother, bring him back in, and put the security chains up on the doors.

Then, being the utterly exhausted mom that I am, I dozed off. J came back once to tell me that the girls had got him, and I sleepily told him to go back out until his brother was physically back in the house. M also came back once (panting heavily) to tell me that she couldn't catch K. I groggily remarked that a ten year old could certainly outrun a two year old and she needed to go back out and bring him home.

Little did I know, but K was racing all the way down the street, leading a whole group in chase. As I understand, all three of my older kids chased after him, their friend Justin chased after him, and even Kristi, my hugely-pregnant-with-twins friend, chased after him while holding her toddler. Another neighbor, Suzanne, saw K and poor Kristi overdoing it to try and catch him. She has a badly injured knee right now, so she and her daughter got in their car and drove after him. K led everyone completely around the block and out onto the main road in front of our housing development. And here's where it got scary.

On this road, cars routinely drive about 60 mph. There are no stop signs or anything to slow people down, and very little in the way of pedestrians or bikes. (We live quite a ways from general civilization.) Suzanne stopped her car in the center median area of the road opposite K and saw M & B catch hold of K. She was relieved, but only for a moment. Just when a car was racing down the road toward them, K broke away from his sisters and headed for the road. Suzanne said he was just grinning, clearly he thought it was some kind of game. Suzanne didn't know what to do-- should she get out of the car and try to run across the road to him? (But she could barely hobble around. Not enough time.) Should she try to flag down the car? The driver was not paying attention. She ended up screaming, "Stop, K, stop!" and holding out her hands at him. He stepped one foot into the street and then paused, just looking at Suzanne. She said the oncoming car was accelerating and right then she just felt sick. She was so afraid that K was going to dart into the road and this was going to end in tragedy. But she said that something just seemed to hold K back.

When the oncoming driver got to them Suzanne said that at first she gave Suzanne an annoyed look (probably wondering what the heck she was doing stopped in the middle of the road). But then she saw K, and Suzanne said she could see the panic come over her. The driver knew that she had been moments away from running over a child. However, I believe that for K's sake, and everyone else around him, angels were there, protecting my son from what would have certainly killed him.

Suzanne and Whitney brought K home (my memory kicks in at this point-- I woke up to find Whitney in my room, explaining that K had run away and they had brought him home). After that I have been careful to keep the security chains up on the doors at all times. I can learn from my mistakes. Not too mention that I have given up taking even short naps and leaving M in charge of K.

Thank goodness for my good friends and neighbors who care so much for my kids, who were willing to go after him and try to keep him safe. Also, I cannot express enough gratitude to my Heavenly Father for protecting my son. It makes the challenging grind of my days right now much less important because this week could have gone much differently. I will be eternally grateful!!!!