Driving to work one morning, I was thinking about what to share for Monday Musings; several "worthy" current events came to mind. But as I kept thinking, my mind wandered back to a time when my stepdaughter, Jen, lived with us. A strong spring storm had rolled through, and straight lines winds had taken the power out for my whole neighborhood.
My parents had power, so Ole Boy and I went to their home as soon as it got dark to spend the night. Jen decided to brave the darkness and stay put. Around 10 p.m., Ole Boy and I went back to the house (with flashlights) to check on things and give Jen another opportunity to come with us. Again, she declined.
Later that night, after I got settled into bed at Mom’s, I was taking to God, saying my nightly general prayers, and something odd happened. For just a split second, I saw Jen in the darkness of her bedroom, and a light was shining on her. It was so quick, then it was gone, but I was sure of what I’d seen. I said a quick prayer for Jen’s protection, and went on to sleep.
Early the next morning, we went home, and the first thing I saw when we pulled in was the carport door wide open with the screen door propped open. My first thought was that Jen was pulling a teenager stunt by smoking in the house, and the door was opened to air out the smoke. Jen was still asleep in her room when we went in. We woke her up, and the first thing she asked us was why we’d come back later the night before and shined our flashlight on her. We told her we hadn’t. I asked her why she had the door propped open. She had not propped it open.
Upon closer inspection of the door, we could see where a crow bar had been used to pry it open. Jen told us that at some point after we left, she awoke to a flashlight shining on her face. She sat up and said, “Hey! What are you doing?” then she heard footsteps retreating. Her original thought was that we’d come back, but she wondered if something else was going on. She didn’t have a phone in the bedroom to call us, so and she blockaded herself in her room and went back to sleep.
I’m not sure what I would have done in the same circumstance, but I’m almost certain going back to sleep wouldn’t be an option.
Some may think I’m crazy, but in my heart of hearts, I know God was showing me Jen was in trouble so that I would pray for her protection…and protect her He did. In addition to protecting her, not one thing was missing from our house. One more reason to be eternally grateful.
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