Just feeling grateful to be safe, or You can’t judge a book by its’ cover

Today was a day of high adrenaline. I think my normal yoga blood pressure is now pretty high after tonight…

It was hot, for one. Hot and sticky, and just…yuck. :) But that’s summer. So with closed windows because of asthma, and no a/c, it just kind of stifles. So by evening, I needed to get out for a little bit. We had a lovely rain storm and it cooled things down a bit, so the girls and I decided to go on a walk. We walked downtown to the community market to get a few things to make a cake for Father’s Day for daddy (no, the oven’s not fixed, for those following the saga…an ice cream cake). :)

We had a really pleasant walk at first. The girls loved the puddles, and they took turns pushing their little baby doll in a little stroller while I wielded the enormous beast of a double stroller. :) It went pretty well until we were almost at the store. An enormous dog leaped out at us with teeth bared and with quite a bark going. Needless to say, the girls were terrified. Okay, mom was terrified, too. The dog was huge and very mad, and here I am with 4 babies and 2 strollers. So I was trying to stare the dog down, in order to not give away my own fear (yeah, right!), while trying to turn the massive stroller and the petrified girls around to go a different way. It was definitely a difficult situation. Suddenly, a car pulled over right next to us. I looked over to see who it was, and for a moment couldn’t decide if I was more scared of the dog, or of the man in the car!

He was pierced and tattooed from head to toe, and I knew this because he was bald and had very little clothing on. And he was blocking my rapid escape onto the road. In that moment my mind raced as to what his intentions might be with a woman alone with 4 little girls. It was a “lady or the tiger” moment…death by dog, or death by scary man? I said a quick prayer for help with the situation.

I turned out to be very wrong. He leaned out the window and spoke very kindly. He told me that he lived on that road and that this dog always leaped out at him, too, but that it was on an invisible fence and wouldn’t be able to get at the girls if I just kept walking past. He told me he would stay right there and make sure we were okay until we were past the dog’s house. And he did. He waited to go until I was two houses away. I felt terrible for having misjudged him, and I felt a surge of gratitude for his tremendous kindness. So thank you, whoever you were!

As you’ll see as you continue to read, this was definitely a “you can’t judge a book by its’ cover” kind of day.

So we had fun at the store, did our traditional “pick out a lollipop for the walk home” thing, and we were off. We made it home safely and without incident (I walked on the other side of the road). I got home, and what followed was an extremely loooooong story. But the condensed version is that while I was home alone with the girls that evening, a man came to the house who was dressed very clean, very neat, and looked very trust-able. But he was trying to get into my home. The evening involved me being on the phone with the police more than once. A different man came later, also dressed clean and neat, with a smile on his face, who was also trying to get into my home. I was able, from my house on a hill, to keep an eye on the “wolf in sheep’s clothing” while talking on the phone with the sheriff, and describe to him where the man had hid from the officers who were out driving up and down the street.

Not my kind of fun.

But it really struck me, first of all, that the scariest looking man I encountered today was incredibly kind to me. Then two men who looked and acted clean and kind were in fact evil in their intents. We truly need the Spirit to guide us in these times of great confusion!

I am grateful most of all for a loving husband who had a great deal of work to do, but who dropped everything and sped home when his terrified wife called him. I have been so blessed!

The positive side to this “high adrenaline” day was that, after the “bad guys” had been caught, Matt and I were able to sit with our girls and talk to them about what had happened. It was wonderful to comfort them as we bore our testimonies to them that they will be helped and watched over if they are always trying to keep the commandments and follow the Spirit. It was wonderful that we were able to draw on examples from that day. I am truly grateful for our protection and safety!

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