Your dad gave a talk in church last week and told this story about Joshua. I wanted to just copy and paste the part of his talk because he did such a great job with this story:
One of the prayers we pray as a family, and one that I offer almost daily myself as a father, is that the Lord will protect our family and send angels to watch over us, especially when we are apart. Last Sunday shortly after arriving home from church I was changing out of my Sunday clothes and I heard Andrea and Talia leaving for Choir practice, which is conveniently held a few doors down from us at the Valentine’s home. When I came back into the living room and kitchen area I couldn’t find Joshua, our 2 year old. Glancing outside and not seeing him either there or in the garage I assumed Andrea had taken him to choir with her and went on with what I was doing. A few minutes later I texted Andrea to make sure she had him with her, no answer. I looked around the house one more time and reassured myself he must be with her if he’s not here. It turns out he had let himself out of the house while no one was looking and saw his mom heading towards the Valentine’s home and decided to follow. He of course didn’t find her because she was inside singing long before his little legs could carry him that far, so he just kept looking. He walked all the way around the block, twice, as it was later reported to us by the angels who were sent to keep watch over him. A mom in our neighborhood saw him walking and tried to help him but he wouldn’t have it so she jumped in her car and followed him while he walked, and another angel saw him walk by while he was out mowing his lawn and stopped what he was doing to make sure my son stayed safe. Imagine the terrible things that could have happened, imagine how differently that day could have turned out for us. Immediately after choir practice we discovered he was indeed missing and started our frantic search which only lead us to the end of the circle where another angel, a police officer was attending to the situation to make sure our son made it home safe, he just happened to be driving by when the angel mom flagged him down.
As we walked back home, clutching our scared little boy in our arms the spirit whispered to both of us, "I have heard you and your prayers have been answered, and angels did indeed protect him."
Our prayers were answered even before we knew that we needed to say a prayer, before we even realized the danger.
Now, of course, my mother's heart went crazy when I realized what had happened. Joshua was so scared when I went to him. He clung to me. These sweet people who found him, they were obviously not of our faith. They had tattoos, a "rough" exterior to most people on the outside. But my goodness, were they amazing on the inside to follow around my boy and make sure he was okay. I'm so grateful for their instincts. And the policeman was so cute, he could tell how horrified I was. He said, "I have six kids, and something like this has happened with atlas three of them. It's okay."
After all this happened, Talia asked me, "Did Heavenly Father make that happen? Did He make Joshua do that?"
It was a great opportunity to talk with her about how Heavenly Father helps us inside of our free agency. I told her, "No, Heavenly Father didn't make him do that. Joshua chose to do that on his own. But Heavenly Father protected Joshua inside of that choice." I believe this so strongly. I believe that Heavenly Father sends us inspirations all the time to help us in our life. It is our job to listen and keep close to the spirit. This was such a perfect reminder of the way He helps us, despite of our choices.
I'm so grateful for Heavenly Father's protection and help for Joshua this day.
I love you,
Your Mom
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