the wizard of odds: God Protected Us

You know those stories of mothers who gain the strength of a dozen men to pick up a car, rescuing her child underneath it? I wish I could say that I am that mother, but my story is not nearly as dramatic as it is just plain terrifying. But I did get a taste of what it might be like-- my instincts kicked in and I went with it!

Today I got to put out a house fire. Well sort of. I mean I would have had to if I didn't catch it when I did.

The baby was fed and fast asleep, so I seized this opportunity for a hot shower- I might even get to shave my legs! As I was hopping in, (or stepping, rather-- hopping into a slippery tub can be so dangerous!) I got a faint whiff of something burning. That unmistakable smell. I'd woken up this morning and threw some frozen chicken in the crock pot, so I thought I'd better go check and make sure my food wasn't on fire. I reluctantly threw a towel around myself. Approaching the kitchen, the scent faded. Odd. Was it coming from the other end of the house? The living room? Or worse, Rylan's room? That was not the only issue-- there was a cardboard box of baby's clothes directly underneath it. I reached up to move the box-- as I did so, a smoldering nighttime sleeper fell from the top of the box onto the carpet. Its original white was tainted with the black and brown of a fierce burn, while other parts glowed a blinding orange. Quickly grabbing part of the outfit that was not yet destroyed, I rushed to the sink and sprayed it with water.

What a scare! It would have only taken a few minutes more to fill that room with smoke, and worse, my new son's lungs as well. When he woke up from his nap, he coughed a bit, but I think everything is fine! We left the house to make sure the smoke cleared.

All's well that ends well, but I did get such an adrenaline rush as my instincts kicked in. I felt like I understood why those mothers would do crazy things or gain crazy strength to protect their babies, even though I did neither of those things. It's just that the safety and well-being of my baby instantly became my only priority like a horse with blinders on. God must have really had his hand over our family today!