down the mountain, down the canal

Jul 14, 2012

My heart is full of gratitude today for the heavenly protection we have received the past few weeks. Two people I love dearly could be dead or seriously injured right now. Instead, they are alive and well and we are all counting our blessings.

It all started when my husband fell down a mountain. He was helping his friends to slide a boat, with him in front and his two friends holding ropes off the back, down a steep, shale covered incline. This particular mountain has a series of 8-10 foot cliffs and while he was standing on the edge of one of them the boat slipped a few inches and slid into his legs, knocking him off the cliff. He continued down the hillside turning head over heels for about 40 yards. As he came up from one of his flying somersaults a huge boulder loomed in front of his face. He was able (with a guardian angel’s help!) to put his left arm in front of his face and strong arm his way over the boulder and into a front flip. The good news is his head didn’t get smashed. The bad news is his shoulder was dislocated, his hip shaken up, and the rest of him bruised, battered, and gashed.

He quickly developed a deep, black bruise across his hip and down his thigh. Awful ugly and oh, so sore. He has gashes and scrapes from head to toe, he can’t lay on his left side, and he hasn’t slept well since the accident. He has little hand and arm strength, in fact, I put him to work this morning assembling some shelves for the sewing room rearrangement project and he could barely turn the allen wrench. He says his left arm is basically useless.

But he is alive. He is here. He is still giving me that crooked smile.

And for that, I am grateful.

I will turn all the screws myself.

Yesterday’s miracle is even more dramatic. My friend, Boo, has been up here visiting all her Idaho friends before she moves to California in a few weeks. She has been staying with Miss Jennifer and helping her build a barn for Jen’s goats. Boo’s little three-year-old fell in the (previously empty) canal yesterday and was instantly swept away by the current. Her five-year-old came in and told the adults, who instantly rushed out the door and jumped into the chest-high, fast-moving, brown and murky water. They couldn’t see a thing and had no idea where she was, but they ended up in the canal at the exact place Naomi was in the water. Somehow (once again, angelic help came to the rescue) Jen reached right into the culvert and found Naomi’s arm. Boo followed suit and found her hand holding on to the side of the culvert. They quickly pulled her out and started working on her. She started breathing quickly, then the paramedics arrived and worked on her some more.

Now, she is well. She is here. She is blessing us all with her zest for life and her adorable, kissable cheekies.

How she got a hold of the culvert (far from where she fell in), how they found her in the deep water, how she recovered so quickly, all of it is a mystery, unless you know, as we do, that heavenly help was present and guiding them all, strengthening them all, and blessing them all.

So, so grateful.

Dear Father, thank you for my loved ones. Thank you for protecting them and bringing them back to their families.