Three Scares are Enough

See this little girl?

I love her to pieces but she has caused my heart to stop a few times this week.

It all started on Sunday after church.

Jeremy was watching her while I was still at work.

It hit Jeremy after he was done reading something on his iPad that Isabella was not sitting in the room where she had been just a few minutes before.

Jeremy asked Chase where his sister was. 

Chase did not know.

Jeremy jumped up and started looking around. Our house is not that big so after Jeremy quickly looked in each room with no luck, he yelled, "Bella!"

He heard a faint, "Da-Da!"

Since Jeremy has only one good ear, he has directional trouble with sound. He asked Chase to tell him where the sound was coming from and Chase told it was coming from the laundry room.

When they opened up the door, Isabella came out with both hands up in the air while yelling, "YAY!!!!!!"

A least, she wasn't traumatized or even upset.

The next day, I woke up with a bit of a head cold. Call me silly but I seem to not be the best mom when I am not feeling well. I was very thankful that Jeremy was off and could help watch the kids.

Chase and Isabella were watching a video in Chase's room while I dozed on the couch.

All was quiet and peaceful. 

A little too peaceful.

I mentioned this peace to Jeremy and we instantly got off the couch to make sure everything was fine.

Once again, Isabella was gone and Chase was clueless as to where she was.

We went straight to our bathroom where she seems to like going in and closing the door.

We opened the door and she was happily playing on the floor with some bath toys that had been left in there.

Oh my goodness! I have not quit thanking God for keeping Bella safe while she was back there because she is known for getting into things. There was plenty of trouble in that room for her to get into but she just plopped on the floor and played with a couple of toys that are not usually in our bathroom.

 Now, moving on to the story that tops all of these and almost made my heart stop.

I was in the office with the kids. When I take the kids to work, they keep busy visiting everyone in their offices, playing in the nursery near my office, running the hallway, and playing in my office. I can hear them wherever they are and immediately check on them when things get quiet.

That is what happened today.

I was talking to Mom and we realized that both kids were quiet.

Very rare.

Given the two scares I had been given the last two days, I took off running around while screaming their names.

Neither kid answered and I felt immediate panic.

The only place they could possibly be was outside.

No, no, NO! Not there!!!

I ran outside and saw Chase by himself then I think I screamed again.

He was by himself.

I said, "Where is Bella?"

He said that Mimi (my mom) had her up between the buildings.

What happened was Chase helped Isabella get outside because he said she wanted to go and she kept messing up what he was building with some blocks in the nursery.

Okay, not his best big brother moment. Maybe his worst but he honestly did not understand the danger his sister could have been in while outside.

Anyway, while Mom and I were looking for the kids, Mom found Chase first who told her where Isabella was. Meanwhile, Isabella stayed on all the sidewalks and just enjoyed the weather.

I have been a little weepy tonight while breathing many prayers of thankfulness to God. This has also caused me to raise my level of prayers for my kids, their safety, and their health.

When life is going well, human nature tends to get a bit lax in praying, being cautious, and not being as thankful for the blessings that come our way each day.

These last three days have jolted me to a new level of awareness of life and how quickly it can all change. I am more thankful than ever for God's protection even when we don't know possible danger is right upon us.