OMG

Ever have one of those “OMG, what-if?” moments?

I had an “OMGOMGOMG” moment tonight, to put it in perspective.

Nate and Nathaniel were going on a walk and Ella wanted to join them instead of staying home with me. So I let her outside, assuming Nate and Nathaniel were still in the garage. I cleaned the kitchen and then went upstairs to run the kids’ bath. Once the tub was full, I went outside to see if I could find Nate and the kids to let them know it was bathtime. No one was in sight, but I could faintly hear Ella crying. I started walking toward the sound of her crying, and turning the street corner I saw her all the way down at the other end of the street running away from me and crying, “Daddy? Daddy?” I was afraid she was going to run into the street, so I called out to her and took off running to get her. When she saw me she said, “I can’t find Daddy anywhere! He’s lost! He’s lost!” She was hysterical.

I realized that she had been outside for those past fifteen minutes all alone, trying to find Nate and Nathaniel, who had already left for their walk. I was horrified. Of course I had all the “OMG, what-if’s?!” running through my head like, “What if she’d been hit by a car?” or “What if she’d gotten lost in the neighborhood?” or “What if one of the hundreds of random workers here in the new construction neighborhood found her?” OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG…….

PRAISE GOD she was protected. PRAISE GOD I did find her, and she was safe. But the scary thing is that everywhere, everyday accidents like this happen and unfortunately don’t turn out the same way. I have to push that out of my mind and just rest in the fact that, for whatever reason, Ella was protected tonight and our family was spared from what could have been a horrible tragedy. PRAISE GOD.

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