God works in mysterious ways
I have had a night from Hell, but saved by one ragged Angel sent from God.
Today was a fairly quiet day. The kids slept in. Shelbie was feeling well enough to do a chalk painting for someone from Canada who asked her to surprise her niece who lives in our town, with a special drawing and message. All afternoon, everyone joined in the chalk art on the driveway. It's amazing how it draws the neighbors out from their homes, just to sit and watch the kids do their masterpieces. I don't join in the fun since I am thankfully working and busy.
Because I was sitting at my desk since 6 AM working, I decided to take a quick walk down to the park, about a mile and a half away. I figured I would walk there and back and then we had planned to go out to the sand dunes to catch the sunset. I left the house at 6:30. It was still so warm and nice.
I didn't get far from my house, just past the church I attend, and a man was walking towards me. I stepped off the sidewalk and onto the road in order to pass him. As I neared him, he said, "You aren't going to say hi?" I didn't know this man who was walking barefoot and carrying slippers in his hand. He was no one I had recognized in the neighborhood. I said, "Hey" but kept walking.
A little further down, I had a terrible feeling that I needed to go straight home. I turned around but I noticed that the man I had passed had also changed the direction of his walk and was now headed towards me. Rather than go back down the way I came, I turned to take the next street over and head toward home as fast as I could. As I got to the corner of the next street over, in a driveway where my good friend use to live, there was a woman there.
She was crying and angry. "Get away from me!" She yelled. "You can't come any closer or we will be thrown in jail!"
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"NO!! I'm not okay! Why would I be okay. I'm all alone. I have no one. I don't have a husband or children, no parents, not a dog, no sisters or brothers or cousins. I'm all alone! I lost my job today. I can't live anymore. I have no reason to live. I just spent two hours at the Fair grounds, throwing rocks and screaming and crying. I am all alone. Life will never be okay. I going to kill myself. It's not worth it. They will never let us leave our homes. I am a prisoner in my home."
Clearly, she was not okay but I was not okay either and getting more nervous because of this man. I really knew I needed to get home but how I could leave a woman in such distress? So I said, "Listen, it's going to be okay. Things will be normal again. I promise. Tell me what I can do to help you. I can sit here and talk to you. When was the last time you had someone to talk to?"
" I have no one! You don't understand what it's like to be alone, with no one! I lost my job today. I don't have any money."
"Okay, but I can help you. I can get you food. I can talk to you. Where are you going?"
" I'm going home."
"Can I walk with you to your home."
"Why? Why do you care? NO ONE CARES ABOUT ME! I just need to die!"
" I can care about you! Life is worth living. It's just such a difficult time. Let's walk."
"Well, I'm going the opposite way of you."
"It's okay, where do you live?"
So we started walking. She was angry, angrier than I have ever seen anyone in a long time; angry at the government, angry at the virus, angry that the young adults who run the call center where she works gives all the hours to the young people. She yelled for two blocks straight. I just kept trying to calm her down. As we got closer to the end of the long street, nearly to the old hotel that had been remodeled into studio apartments, I looked back and that man was following me again. I felt sick and started to feel panicked. We turned another corner and I had such a terrible feeling, I knew I was in trouble.
Bryn...the woman who I walked to her home, was feeling calmer and I asked her if she would please consider giving life another chance. I told her I would call her in the morning and make her some warm fresh cookies. As we exchanged numbers and she thanked me for being kind enough to walk with her and talk, the man walked into the parking lot. The spirit practically yelled in my ear...Call your boys to pick you up. I asked Bryn to wait one minute while I texted my son. I texted Spencer and said in all caps..."I need a ride now, right now, come to the Cotton Tree. Hurry." I knew I couldn't let this complete stranger leave me but she wanted to go. The man was now sitting on a curb just across the parking lot, watching me. I just kept trying to ask more questions to this woman and stall for time until Spencer could get to me. He didn't come. I texted Shelbie the same message. She didn't come.
Finally, I couldn't keep her attention any longer. But at that moment we said goodbye, a Canadian Goose flew just over our head and kept circling above us. She was from Canada and made a comment about the goose. I told her I was from Canada too. Though she is not of my Faith, she said, "There is no doubt in my mind that you were sent to me from a higher power. That goose is circling us to let us know you were sent to save me." With that, she said goodbye and I promised to call her in the morning. I was all alone in that parking lot.
The man was still sitting, watching me and I was terrified. I called Sam and screamed for him to come and get me. I ran faster than I have ever run in my entire life. I actually don't remember ever being so terrified. I really was only a mile from my house. As soon as I saw Sam's car fly around the corner and down the street, I ran even faster. He slammed on the brakes in the middle of the wrong side of the street and ran as fast as he could towards me and I fell into his arms, crying and screaming to get me home.
It was the most terrifying night of my life. Spencer's phone was syncing to his computer so he never got the text message notification. Shelbie didn't get my text message until I was already home for 45 min!! How does that happen? That never happens!
How does it happen that one just stumbles upon a suicidal person just out of the blue? A complete and total stranger. She was not there by coincidence! I know without a doubt that God put her there, somehow. For as warm as the night was, there were hardly any people out and about. I don't know what could have happened tonight but I know that man did not have good intentions with me.
When I got home, Shelbie burst into tears that she had had a strong feeling to call me shortly after I left on the walk to make sure I was okay, but she didn't. When I left for the walk, Spencer said, "Be careful! Do you want someone to go with you?" My reply was, "No, I'm just walking to the park, I won't be gone longer than a half hour." Even my neighbor texted me as soon as I was home, "Are you Ok?" Why would he have thought to text me that? I know all of these were promptings from the Holy Ghost.
I take walks all the time by myself. I've never been scared. I've walked alone a lot. Never once did my kids say 'Be careful.'
Everyone is pretty shaken up tonight. I don't think I will recover from this for days or weeks. Both the boys are sick now from the flood of adrenaline. It's terrible. What a terrible night but at the same time, I can see that Heavenly Father sent that stranger angel to at least make sure I wasn't alone. Maybe, I hope, that poor woman will make it through the night with a little more hope and peace.
Tomorrow Shelbie has her Biopsy. Since doctor's aren't really working right now, it's been hard to nail this down. It looked like it would be Tuesday, maybe today but Thursday it is.
Tonight, I don't think I will sleep very well but feeling an outpouring of gratitude for the blessings of protection I had tonight. Only the craziest of things happen to me...I can hardly believe what I have had to endure.
Today was a fairly quiet day. The kids slept in. Shelbie was feeling well enough to do a chalk painting for someone from Canada who asked her to surprise her niece who lives in our town, with a special drawing and message. All afternoon, everyone joined in the chalk art on the driveway. It's amazing how it draws the neighbors out from their homes, just to sit and watch the kids do their masterpieces. I don't join in the fun since I am thankfully working and busy.
Because I was sitting at my desk since 6 AM working, I decided to take a quick walk down to the park, about a mile and a half away. I figured I would walk there and back and then we had planned to go out to the sand dunes to catch the sunset. I left the house at 6:30. It was still so warm and nice.
I didn't get far from my house, just past the church I attend, and a man was walking towards me. I stepped off the sidewalk and onto the road in order to pass him. As I neared him, he said, "You aren't going to say hi?" I didn't know this man who was walking barefoot and carrying slippers in his hand. He was no one I had recognized in the neighborhood. I said, "Hey" but kept walking.
A little further down, I had a terrible feeling that I needed to go straight home. I turned around but I noticed that the man I had passed had also changed the direction of his walk and was now headed towards me. Rather than go back down the way I came, I turned to take the next street over and head toward home as fast as I could. As I got to the corner of the next street over, in a driveway where my good friend use to live, there was a woman there.
She was crying and angry. "Get away from me!" She yelled. "You can't come any closer or we will be thrown in jail!"
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"NO!! I'm not okay! Why would I be okay. I'm all alone. I have no one. I don't have a husband or children, no parents, not a dog, no sisters or brothers or cousins. I'm all alone! I lost my job today. I can't live anymore. I have no reason to live. I just spent two hours at the Fair grounds, throwing rocks and screaming and crying. I am all alone. Life will never be okay. I going to kill myself. It's not worth it. They will never let us leave our homes. I am a prisoner in my home."
Clearly, she was not okay but I was not okay either and getting more nervous because of this man. I really knew I needed to get home but how I could leave a woman in such distress? So I said, "Listen, it's going to be okay. Things will be normal again. I promise. Tell me what I can do to help you. I can sit here and talk to you. When was the last time you had someone to talk to?"
" I have no one! You don't understand what it's like to be alone, with no one! I lost my job today. I don't have any money."
"Okay, but I can help you. I can get you food. I can talk to you. Where are you going?"
" I'm going home."
"Can I walk with you to your home."
"Why? Why do you care? NO ONE CARES ABOUT ME! I just need to die!"
" I can care about you! Life is worth living. It's just such a difficult time. Let's walk."
"Well, I'm going the opposite way of you."
"It's okay, where do you live?"
So we started walking. She was angry, angrier than I have ever seen anyone in a long time; angry at the government, angry at the virus, angry that the young adults who run the call center where she works gives all the hours to the young people. She yelled for two blocks straight. I just kept trying to calm her down. As we got closer to the end of the long street, nearly to the old hotel that had been remodeled into studio apartments, I looked back and that man was following me again. I felt sick and started to feel panicked. We turned another corner and I had such a terrible feeling, I knew I was in trouble.
Bryn...the woman who I walked to her home, was feeling calmer and I asked her if she would please consider giving life another chance. I told her I would call her in the morning and make her some warm fresh cookies. As we exchanged numbers and she thanked me for being kind enough to walk with her and talk, the man walked into the parking lot. The spirit practically yelled in my ear...Call your boys to pick you up. I asked Bryn to wait one minute while I texted my son. I texted Spencer and said in all caps..."I need a ride now, right now, come to the Cotton Tree. Hurry." I knew I couldn't let this complete stranger leave me but she wanted to go. The man was now sitting on a curb just across the parking lot, watching me. I just kept trying to ask more questions to this woman and stall for time until Spencer could get to me. He didn't come. I texted Shelbie the same message. She didn't come.
Finally, I couldn't keep her attention any longer. But at that moment we said goodbye, a Canadian Goose flew just over our head and kept circling above us. She was from Canada and made a comment about the goose. I told her I was from Canada too. Though she is not of my Faith, she said, "There is no doubt in my mind that you were sent to me from a higher power. That goose is circling us to let us know you were sent to save me." With that, she said goodbye and I promised to call her in the morning. I was all alone in that parking lot.
The man was still sitting, watching me and I was terrified. I called Sam and screamed for him to come and get me. I ran faster than I have ever run in my entire life. I actually don't remember ever being so terrified. I really was only a mile from my house. As soon as I saw Sam's car fly around the corner and down the street, I ran even faster. He slammed on the brakes in the middle of the wrong side of the street and ran as fast as he could towards me and I fell into his arms, crying and screaming to get me home.
It was the most terrifying night of my life. Spencer's phone was syncing to his computer so he never got the text message notification. Shelbie didn't get my text message until I was already home for 45 min!! How does that happen? That never happens!
How does it happen that one just stumbles upon a suicidal person just out of the blue? A complete and total stranger. She was not there by coincidence! I know without a doubt that God put her there, somehow. For as warm as the night was, there were hardly any people out and about. I don't know what could have happened tonight but I know that man did not have good intentions with me.
When I got home, Shelbie burst into tears that she had had a strong feeling to call me shortly after I left on the walk to make sure I was okay, but she didn't. When I left for the walk, Spencer said, "Be careful! Do you want someone to go with you?" My reply was, "No, I'm just walking to the park, I won't be gone longer than a half hour." Even my neighbor texted me as soon as I was home, "Are you Ok?" Why would he have thought to text me that? I know all of these were promptings from the Holy Ghost.
I take walks all the time by myself. I've never been scared. I've walked alone a lot. Never once did my kids say 'Be careful.'
Everyone is pretty shaken up tonight. I don't think I will recover from this for days or weeks. Both the boys are sick now from the flood of adrenaline. It's terrible. What a terrible night but at the same time, I can see that Heavenly Father sent that stranger angel to at least make sure I wasn't alone. Maybe, I hope, that poor woman will make it through the night with a little more hope and peace.
Tomorrow Shelbie has her Biopsy. Since doctor's aren't really working right now, it's been hard to nail this down. It looked like it would be Tuesday, maybe today but Thursday it is.
Tonight, I don't think I will sleep very well but feeling an outpouring of gratitude for the blessings of protection I had tonight. Only the craziest of things happen to me...I can hardly believe what I have had to endure.
There is no emoji for my face/feelings right now...
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