Living in the shelter of His wings

Not really!! Just had a heart-stopper episode of frantic searching for a missing, deaf, 3yr old... Complete with running the block, kids searching the house, dragging the huge solar cover off the pool (wiped out on the ice with that one), searching all cars, frantic prayers, searching every closet, cupboard, bed, tossing every pile, feeling about to vomit as I called 911 after we couldn't find her ANYWHERE... Only to have my prayers answered when we found our sweet angel sound asleep in a toy box covered with a blanket..... She had hidden well!! Tears of utter relief and joy!!!! 911 operator chuckled when I started crying as I told her, "we found her and she is okay!!" #longest10minutesever #horrific #imdone #icedin #wrungout #needachiropractor #thankful #praisingGod


The above was my post on my social network site yesterday.... I was babysitting my nieces & nephew and because of the ice storm we got in North Texas, ended up being alone with all 9 children (my 5 plus my sister's 4), 12yrs and under, Sunday. My sweet little nieces (1,3, & 5yrs) are deaf or hard of hearing and that adds a bit of an extra challenge to caring for so many.
The day was actually full of fun and pretty good moments...

Then it all fell apart in the few minutes it took for me to use the bathroom after my other sister got back home from work... Nobody knew where Emma was...
It was the LONGEST few minutes (probably 10 minutes tops) and the worst moments I've experienced since the day I stood on the riverbank frantically trying to locate my husband after he went down.
The heart-pounding-in-your-throat, gut-wrenching panic... as you force yourself to think clearly, rationally and logically - but, as seconds pass and you can't locate her in any of the reasonable places... your mind begins to race to every possible, worst-case scenario...
As I asked questions, directed kids to various areas, raced through the house/yard/neighborhood... My mind raced between panic and logic - "How could she have disappeared? When was the last minute that I had seen her? Nobody had heard the alarm as an outside door opened, but, maybe it had malfunctioned and she had gotten outside somehow??"
Dragging the solar cover off of the pool was the worst moment for me as I begged God to not find her little body in there.... I totally wiped out on the icy deck at one moment as I ran around to pull off another corner... I remember thinking "that may hurt tomorrow...", but it didn't matter in the moment as I grabbed at frozen corners and peeled back the unwieldy rubber...my frozen fingers not working as quickly as my mind dictated...

When we found her snuggled up in a toy box, cuddled under a blanket, SOUND ASLEEP..... Oh dear Jesus!! There are no words to describe my UTTER RELIEF and INDESCRIBABLE JOY!! Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.... I couldn't formulate any other comprehensible sentences... Thank You Father God for having mercy upon us and for protecting and keeping her - snuggled up and cozy - instead of the multitude of nightmares that I had processed in the minutes we couldn't find her. Thank You Jesus!!

"He will cover you with His feathers. He will shelter you with His wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection...He will order His angels to protect you wherever you go..." Psalm 91:4,11

We were all drained - wrung out - as we came down from the adrenaline rush... I felt like my soul was quivering... I had the overwhelming desire to pick up the phone and call my husband -- I SO needed to decompress and have someone tell me that it was all ok and we were fine... needed someone ELSE to be in charge and take over!!
Last night as I tried to relax enough to fall asleep, still mulling over the events of the afternoon -- the quiet of the house taking over from all the chaos and noise... I felt the Lord was trying to tell me something and was asking me to listen as the Holy Spirit whispered to my soul...
"...let ME be your bigger person and the ONE who tells you it is going to be ok...I will not let you stumble; I am the One who watches over you and I never slumber or sleep... I, the Lord watch over you; I stand beside you as your protective shade... I, the Lord, keep you from all harm and watch over your life...both now and forever" Ps 121

This is my "bigger person" guys and the peace that floods my soul as I reflect on these verses is genuine -- So, incredibly, thankful that I am a child of God!!