someone's watching over me

Well, the last 24 hours have been different scary.

This is an email I sent to my best friends today.

"Ready for some crazy scary stories? 

I know, odd way to start out an email. A, baby and I have had two near death (maybe not necessarily death, but scary nonetheless) experiences within the past 24 hours. 

Yesterday while we were driving to Nashville, we almost got taken out by a van with a trailer on the back. There was a police coming up from behind us (we didn't see or hear him yet), and this van in the next lane over started to switch lanes. He didn't really look (I think we were in his blind spot) and began switching lanes nearly hitting us. A somehow slammed on the brakes as we watched this van and then trailer (not just one of the little ones, but a decent sized trailer) almost hit us. It was probably about an inch from our car, if that. We would have been hit on the drivers side, which had both A and baby. The way, and the place that we would have been hit would have sent us spinning into the cars flying past us in the other lanes. It could have been SOOO bad. But it wasn't. We were being watched over. A didn't even think about slamming on her brakes. Neither of us saw the van until it was too late, yet we were safe. 

Then, this morning at about 4, I woke up to the sound of the smoke detector. I remember thinking that it was nothing. A must have just burned something, and that it was fine. No big deal. The next thing I knew was A was screaming my name, and there was smoke everywhere. The second I opened my door I couldn't see anything. I have never seen so much smoke in my life. A had fallen asleep while she was warming up a bottle to feed baby. It had been warming for an hour and a half before we noticed all of the smoke. An hour and a half before the smoke detector went off. A grabbed the pan and ran it outside, while I opened up the doors and windows. A grabbed baby, and the keys and we went and sat in the car, so grateful that nothing nearby had caught fire. We waited and waited for the smoke to clear. After almost an hour we called the fire department. They came to make sure it was safe to go back inside (since both plastic and rubber are toxic when burned). Once again we were watched over. Had something caught on fire, there would have been no way for us to get out, except the window. My window is on the second story of our apartment. A's however, is on the third floor, and jumping out of the window (with a baby) would have been near impossible. Our apartment is connected to at least a dozen other apartments. Can you imagine what would have happen if our one apartment had caught fire? It would have burned like a wild fire. 

A and I have been talking about the church a lot lately. As we were driving yesterday, we talked about how there is a God, and how loving he is. She talked about how she wants to get to know him better. We talked about the importance of reading our scriptures and saying our prayers, and even committed to helping each other be better . . ."

During all of the craziness, I never once felt panicky. I never felt like we were going to die. It was like an out of body experience. I just knew what to do and I did it. A said she felt the same way. We didn't have to think about how to handle a fire, or a smoke filled apartment, we just did it. Neither one of us panicked. We just did what we needed to and got out of there. Almost being hit by a car was scary, but not near as scary as waking up to smoke everywhere. But no matter how scary it was, I felt so calm and at peace.

One of my best friends wrote me back with the most perfect response.

". . . okay. so. WHAT. THAT IS SO CRAZY. Amanda, the Lord is watching you. I pray for you every night. I'm so glad you're okay. i seriously had such bad anxiety reading that. I am so happy you're okay. I love you to pieces. You're so good for recognizing the Lord's hand in everything. You are already a phenomenal missionary. Manda. I can't wait for you to write to me about all you do in the mission. You are going to change the world for so many. I get to talk to a lot of japense people here and I always think of you and ask questions for you. you're going to love it, baby. I'm so proud of you. I'm crying right now.... lol. I miss you and love you to bits. Thank you for being the best best friend ever. There is no one better than you. We will ALWAYS be besties. I just know it. I'm sorry I can't write to you more. When you're out, you'll understand, but manda just know I seriously think of you every day and love you to no end. :) Tell your family hi. Go to the temple and keep writing me! I know that's selfish since I can't really ever write back everything I want to but I miss you so much and hearing from you is the best part of the week. I am so STINKING PROUD OF YOU! You are amazing. amazing amazing amazing. . . . ."

 I know that Heavenly Father is watching over us. As another best friend said, 

". . . It's really neat to think about just how aware God is, and just so into all the tiny details of our lives he is. I have defiently been saved from multiple driving accidents just on my mission alone! . . ."

He is so aware of each and every one of us. He never leaves any of us alone. "Ohana means family, family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten." (Lilo and Stitch) I am so grateful for my Father in Heaven. I am grateful for his love, and for his protection. I have never been so grateful for his hand in my life, especially in the tiny details that you sometimes might feel are over looked. But he is there. He is always there, and I know it.

And just because I know you want to see a picture of the evidence, here it is.

This is after I doused it with water (once it was outside) to stop all of the smoke.