Just recently, and this is what made me think of ALL the times we have been protected, my husband and I were out on the Oregon Sand Dunes, he was driving his Subaru Sand Car he's had for years. The day was beautiful, sunny and warm, a light breeze was blowing. There were other riders around and it was a Summertime weekday. It was about 3 in the afternoon. Our son came with us and he was riding a side by side we have, but he felt like it was running rough. He said he was going back to the truck to fill the gas tank, maybe it was running rough because it was almost out of gas. So while he went back to the truck, my husband and I took a ride up and over some of the bigger sand dunes and enjoyed what we call the Colosseum in the Wincester Bay Sand Dunes. It is a big area, open with two large hills with a lower 'bowl' at the bottom. We rode up and around and over the top, over and over again. Then we moved to another big dune where my husband drove the sand car along the side at the top of the big sand hill. We rode around a while and decided that our son should be done getting gas so we'd head back towards the truck. As we left the big dunes and started on the sand trail back to the parking lot, we veered off to the side and my husband turned off the engine. He said the steering gave out, completely no steering at all right there at that time. NOT when we were up on the big dunes, where IF the steering went out up there, we could have been rolling down the big sand dunes in the sand car! We called our son and asked him to look for anything in the truck that would work for a bolt for the steering column to connect to the front axle. That is the part that just decided to blow out on the sand trail back. Felt so awesome to have been so protected at that time! Wow!
It made me think back at ALL the times we have been protected.
One Winter day while living in Las Vegas, my son and I attended the Las Vegas temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We had a wonderful time visiting on the way to and from the temple and enjoyed our time inside the temple, enjoying our time for service there. The trip to the temple from our house was about a 45 minute drive through freeway driving and some going through town. We drove over and stopped at the Nutrition Club I worked my Herbalife business out of. We went inside the club and enjoyed a shake and then my son went out to take the car and he was going to come back to pick me up later. He got into the little red Scion we had just driven all over Las Vegas, and while pulling out of the parking spot, the front axle bolts on the right side drop to the ground! Bolts everywhere and the car was immobilized right there! This happened in the parking lot and NOT while turning a corner in town somewhere or worse, while on the freeway! Felt so protected!
Another instance was my husband and I were out all day in our truck delivering RV's out to the Dumont Sand Dune area. We were driving back to the RV park in Tacopa where we store them to spend the night there in one of our RV's.. it was late. As he pulled into the RV park in the truck, it completely stops and will not start up again to park.. we were in the driveway inside the park where it stalled and stopped. The drive from Dumont to Tacopa is dead cell zone area, no cell service. No services at all for MILES! For us to break down right there in the RV park.. what are the 'odds'?!! We stayed the night in one of our RV's and in the morning, called for a tow truck. We were blessed to NOT have to walk for miles to get cell service! So protected!
One of our sons was in an almost head on collision in his Honda driving from Eugene to Florence one day. He came around one of the corners and saw a car in his lane coming towards his car. There was a hillside on his right side so he had nowhere to go! The car was swerving to miss a DEER! My son was able to get as close to the hillside as possible to avoid a head on collision! So scary yet so protected - it could have been a fatal accident!
Another son went out riding his motorcycle by himself on the sand dunes one afternoon. He loved to jump his bike and was getting really good at it. He could get very high and land a jump with practically no fear. He was jumping his bike and while in the air, the engine died. His motorcycle came down like a rock and he came down as well. There was a guy who witnessed this and he drove his quad to my son and found him. My son was awake and the guy asked him some questions and asked him if he was ok, had him take his helmet off. My son said he was ok, just shaken up and a little sore. He didn't pass out, he didn't break anything, he had someone right there to help him. So blessed.
Another time, same son went riding on a quad on the sand by himself and was driving very fast without checking out the area around him first. He came upon a big ditch right in front of him and he had no time to react. He slammed into a wall of sand. A guy saw this, came over to my son and asked him if he was ok. He was ok but was knocked out for a bit. He hit that wall of sand so hard that he bent up the A arms of the quad pretty bad. Our son used the guys cell phone to call us to come to the parking lot to pick him up where the guy was going to tow him to. So blessed, could have been much worse!Our Van had a flat tire one Summer while we were driving on vacation. It was very HOT and we were in California on the I5. Tire blew and we pulled over with 5 kids in the van and it was hot. I kept them occupied and my husband looked for anything he could use for a jack.. we didn't have a proper jack to get the van up to change the tire. Low and behold, just down the freeway about 200 yards away, same side as us, a motor home pulled over with a flat tire. I walked down to them and asked them if we could borrow their jack after they were finished changing their tire! So blessed!
While driving an old Oldsmobile car home one evening on a very rainy night, we were going around a slight corner and the front left tire completely turned sideways and our car came to a screeching halt right on the highway between Coos Bay and Coquille. My husband was driving and my daughter and her friend were in the back seat, I was in the passenger sear. My husband told us all to get out of the car quickly and get to the side of the road. We did! And who should pull over to help us? A TOW TRUCK was behind us and stopped to ask us if we needed help! So protected and so blessed.
I feel very protected and thankful that my family is protected. I know it is because we are striving to live a good life, to be guided by the spirit of the Lord and that we pay our tithing and accept assignments and fulfill our assignments to the best or our abilities. We do all we can to stay on the path back to live with our Father in Heaven and I feel blessed and loved by Him daily. These are some of my experiences.. I have more and may post more another day. Life is a journey and I'm striving to do my best to follow God's plan for me. I know He knows us and loves all of His children.
