In beginning of these postings, were you one of those people who thought ‘surely there aren’t that many different things for which to be thankful?’ Examine every detail of your life, and I bet you will find there are indeed many, many things for which to be thankful. If you are doubtful, then feel free to step into my world. Come with me back to the year of 1985. There is one vivid night that sticks out in my mind from that year. My mom, sisters and I had just finished watching TV and we prepared for bed. My mom and younger sister shared a bedroom on the first floor and my older sister and I shared a bedroom on the second floor. To this day, I have no understanding as to why when it is time to go to bed, I find things I need to do before I can wind down and get in the bed. Such was the case that evening. My older sister was in the zone before I even turned off the light and landed in bed next to her. I cannot remember how many minutes I had been laying there in the dark, AWAKE before I heard what sounded like the sound of forceful cracking wood. I do not much recall the sound of the glass; the prying sound of wood is what I remember most. The sound was enough distance away so it could not have been coming from the front door. What was it? We would soon discover it was the backdoor leading to the kitchen. My heart was beating so fast and it was as if I could actually hear the vibration in my own ears. My horrified, 15 year old mind was thinking, “I need my body to quiet down!” I fearfully whispered my sister’s name a few times to wake her out of her sleep. Obviously, she seemed a bit agitated. “Someone’s downstairs,” I said in barely a whisper. I thought she had just gone back to sleep until a few moments later she whispered back, “Someone is down there.” At that point, I do not remember if any other words were spoken much but I know we were both praying. I know I was. Thoughts kept racing through my mind about my mom and younger sister on the first floor as I prayed in silence. It was not before long that I saw what I assume to be a light from a flashlight making its way up the stairs towards us. As I heard the slow creaking on the stairs, I tried my best to silence the possible creaking in our bed that could be caused by me now shifting my body. I was positioning my body so that my back would face the entrance to our bedroom. I had no idea what would happen if whoever was in our house shined that light in my face. No amount of keeping my eyes closed could hide the fact that I was awake. I was beyond faking my face at this point. My heart was racing, my body was frozen still, and my mind was racing with prayer. I thank God I was taught at an early age the importance of a prayer life! Whoever the person was only shined the light into our bedroom; they DID NOT enter! They did not stand there long before they went back down the stairs. It was as if everything went silent after the once again creaking sound of the stairs. My older sister and I did not know if the persons (we knew there were 2) left or if they were still down there. We knew they had left when in a short while my older brother arrived home and called out to us and we in relief yelled back. It was as if my body had instantly broken free of paralysis.
It took months before I could go to sleep with the lights off after that happened. For a while, I had no problem with being the last person getting to bed. Whatever I needed to do could wait until the next day. Nevertheless, I thank GOD that He proved himself faithful to my mom, sisters and me! Women found in their beds at night with no protection of a man in sight? None of us approached…no harm? Nothing but GOD. I have waayy too much for which to thank God. Endless, endless reasons to thank Him. What about you?
No comments:
Post a Comment