The Granite FamilySearch Center theme for August is: “Remember and Record the Unexpected Hand of God in Your Life.” I love the picture that goes along with the theme. There are two little boys looking up at the sky saying, “Sometimes I just look up, smile, and say, I know that was you God! Thank you!”
I am in awe at the times Heavenly Father has protected, blessed or answered a prayer that may seem insignificant to others, but has meant everything to me! I would like to share one of these stories.
My son and his wife had planned a mini trip to St. George. He came to our house that morning prior to leaving. I noticed he was driving his Ford Focus, which was not in good shape. He told me they were taking it to St. George. After he left, I had the thought, “You should loan your car to him for their trip.” Then I thought, “No, I know how he drives, and I don’t loan out my car.” I kept feeling I should loan it to him, so I called my husband. He told me, “You don’t need to loan them your car, they will be fine.” I said, “I guess if they get stranded, we can go get them.”
After I hung up, I had the distinct thought, “Remember what happened when you didn’t listen to a prompting, and you fell and cracked your ribs.” Then I had the additional thought, “Do you want to take care of your son’s six kids for a while?” My cracked ribs were a horrible experience and if I had to take care of my son’s children, I knew something bad would happen to him and his wife. To confirm my thoughts, I decided to pray and ask Heavenly Father if these were my own thoughts or if they were a prompting. I have learned, for me, the way I get answers from Heavenly Father is to pray very specifically and then randomly open the scriptures and receive the answer He wants me to have. I did this and opened my scriptures to D&C 8:3 and this is what I read “Now, behold, this is the spirit of revelation; behold, this is the spirit by which Moses brought the children of Israel through the Red Sea on dry ground.” At this point I had no doubt that I should loan them my car. I called my son, and he said that it would be great to take my car.
They had a nice get away. As they were driving home from St. George I was talking to my daughter-in-law. She said to her husband, “Did you tell your mom your part of the story?” He said, “No.” She proceeded to tell me that the morning before they left my son prayed and asked if it was ok to take the Focus to St. George. He was given a definite No! He thought, “Well, I don’t know what else to do.” He had a calm feeling, so he just continued to get the things done he needed to do. A little while later I called, and I asked if he wanted to take the car.
I felt like this was a time I looked up, smiled and said, “I know that was you God! Thank you for protecting my son and his wife!”
I hope you will take the time to remember and record a time when you saw the “Unexpected Hand of God in Your Life.”
– Darla Silcox, Consultant and Patron Services, Granite FamilySearch Center