RoslynReynolds.com

Angels Watching Over Me

Friday, August 20th, 2010 | Death of a loved one, Family, Healing after Loss, Healing from grief, Help for Widows, Losing a loved one, The healing power of Faith in Christ, Unshaken Faith in Trials | No Comments

Monday evening we had planned to go to a Marvin Goldstein concert that had been arranged just for widows and widowers and their families. I looked forward to it for months, and could hardly wait to listen to his beautiful music and to hear him tell the story of his life.

Life took a turn, however, on Monday afternoon. We were visiting my sister’s family at a cabin in the mountains above the Salt Lake Valley, and the cousins offered to teach my daughter, Meg, to ride a four-wheeler.

“Have fun – and be ’safety sallies,’” I called as they trooped down the cabin’s front steps. They left, joking and talking, and my sister and I settled down on the couches in the front room for a much-needed nap.

The next thing I heard was  my sister’s voice saying, “Is she okay?”, and my nephew’s voice hesitating, “Um….no…”

I awoke to see him carrying Meg into the cabin, obviously injured and in shock.

He laid her on a recliner, my sister grabbed a towel and  began tearing it into strips for bandages, and while we continued to assure Meg she would be okay, we began cleaning her wounds.

I began feeling light-headed. I’ve never been good around blood. But I was determined to stay present and to be a help, not a hindrance for Meg at this crucial time, so I sat on the floor as I attempted to wash the gravel out the palm of one of her hands, breathing deeply to keep the faintness away. We decided we’d better get her to emergency care immediately.

It seemed to take forever to drive her over the rocky roads to the nearest help in Park City, but thankfully the waiting room wasn’t too crowded, and soon we were ushered into the triage area.

As the doctors examined Meg, I became more and more relieved. No broken bones; no apparent internal injuries; no concussion – just a painful bump on her nose, a knee needing stitches and arms and hands in need of bandages for her ‘road rash’.

After the doctors made their decision and left the curtained area to get the supplies, Meg and I looked at each other, and I think we were both overcome at the same moment with the thought, “There were angels protecting you.” It was a deeply spiritual moment when we received that thought, and we knew it was true.

Later that night, Meg was lying in her bed resting when one of her cousins that had been riding an ATV behind her came to visit and see how she was doing, and he told me what he had seen from behind.

Meg had been following another cousin, who had turned to go down a hill. Meg turned too sharply, and the ATV lifted up on two wheels, then bounced down on the other two, and then completely flipped and rolled. It ended up right-side up – on top of Meg – who had landed face down in a ditch. The ATV wasn’t even touching her.

I know that for some reason, angels can’t – and don’t – prevent all tragedies. All of us who have lost any loved one are all too aware of that fact. Many of us know people who are para- or quadraplegics after incidents such as Meg’s. We were told Monday about a man whose ATV did the same thing as Meg’s – and he didn’t live.

Why was Meg spared? We may never know – but I can – and forever will express gratitude for those protecting angels, and for the answer to our prayer of that morning, asking for “protection in all that we do this day”.

As we strive to stay near to our Savior, He promises us, “For I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.”*

As widows and widowers, and those who have suffered loss, even though our lives have not turned out as we would have hoped, I believe we can see evidence of that Heavenly help, and of those angels, in our daily lives. I believe they help us ward off despair, and whisper hope to our hearts. I believe they give us courage to go out just one more day and face the world. I know they give us strength to face the tragedies life brings our way.  And, sometimes, for reasons we may never understand, I believe they perform miracles that help us see that truly, we are not alone on this journey, and that Heaven is only a prayer away.

May you more often see the influence of those angels that are “round about you”, and may you, too, feel to give thanks for that Heavenly help.

With a thankful heart,

Roslyn

*Doctrine and Covenants 84:88

Tags: Death of a loved one, faith in Christ, Family, Healing from grief, Help for Widows, hope, loss of a loved one, Miracles, Optimism

You Never Know!

Monday, April 20th, 2009 | Healing after Loss | No Comments

“Mom, Jefferson fell out the third-story window and he’s at the hospital.”
I heard those words yesterday, and my heart stopped. (I remembered that window from my visit four months ago to my daughter’s apartment back East, and pictured little two-year-old Jefferson sitting by that window while we ate breakfast together.)

From that moment on the day was one emotional roller-coaster. Unable to phone, my daughter and her husband relied on texts to let us know how Jefferson was faring.
We immediately began praying, and as each update came through on the phone, we thanked God for yet another miracle.
No broken bones.
No head trauma.
No spinal cord injury.
Internal bleeding? Still checking.
He is in pain because he almost severed his tongue; and his back hurts – they assume he landed on his lower back.

After five hours of CAT scans, blood work and other tests, and a transfer to Children’s National Hospital, it was determined the only injuries are a tear in his liver, and his painful tongue.

My sister-in-law called me, and she said, “We never know what the next day will bring. We spend so much time wishing our child would do this or that differently, or being impatient with their messes, or looking forward to when they are older or more independent or less disobedient, that sometimes we forget to just love them. And that is what is really important, and it’s what we’ll remember when things like this happen. Am I loving him the best I can? Does he know of my love?”

It’s true. We never do know what the next day – or even the next hour – will bring.
So let’s love those around us the best we can, and thank God for the miracles – large and small – that He continues to send our way.

Tags: Family, grandchildren, Love, Miracles, Optimism