Intuition. The Holy Ghost is actually what I like to call it. Whatever it was that day, I was thankful for it. Did any one watch Oprah a couple of weeks ago, when they talked about The gift of fear? I was fascinated. While watching the episode, I was reminded of a very frightening incident that happened a few years ago. Looking back through the events, I can see those warning signs that at first glance I missed.
It was a cold winter day, with a thin layer of ice on the ground. The kids were 5, 3, and 1. We were out of pretty much everything, so we braved the elements and went to the grocery store. As I opened the van doors, and pulled Jake from his carseat, a strange thought came to me. I thought, "You know, it would be so easy for someone to take one of my kids." It was icy, I had Jake in one arm and was struggling to hang on to Josh's hand with the other, and Hannah was skipping in circles a few feet away from us. Immediately, I tried to shove the thought from my mind, because...well if any of you know me, you know that I am extrememly paranoid about kidnapping, and such. I figured I was just being stupid. Little did I know, that this was my first warning.
As we were crossing the icy parking lot, I noticed an older man walking in our direction. From first glance, I had the worst feeling about this man. Do you ever get that feeling? I think that was my second warning. Again, I tried to push this thought out of my mind. I didn't even know this man. Who am I to judge him?
Then I noticed that not only was he walking directly toward us, but he was watching every move that Hannah made. Remember, she was a few feet from me. My feelings intensified, and I told her to come closer. As soon as she began walking back toward me, the man sped up and just as she reached me, he reached out his hand to her and poked her in the tummy. Seeing his hand coming quickly toward my child, I of course screamed, which made Hannah jump and scream. He pulled his hand back and I sort of lost it. I yelled at him, and told him that he should NEVER touch another person's child without their permission. He grumbled a "sorry" and walked away. It all happened so quickly. Telling the story, it makes it seem like it took forever, but really it was all in the matter of a minute or two.
Looking back, sometimes I wonder if I overreacted. Who knows. Maybe he was just a nice old man trying to poke a little girl that he had never met before. But it creeped me out. Thankfully, I listened to those feelings, and I'll never have to know other wise. It still scares me to think of what could have happened. Really, it would have been SO easy. There would have been no way for me to stop him. Yes, it's possible that my paranoia got the best of me, but as a mother I know I did the right thing by following that little voice in my head.
I think it's true. The gift of fear is a powerful thing.
So now the question remains. What would you have done?
Sunday, February 10, 2008
The gift of fear
Posted by tharker at 3:18 PM
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
23 Thoughts:
I missed church today cause I have the flu! So....you just gave me a nice church lesson about following the spirit! Thanks!
It is all a mothers' fear! Always be the momma bear! Scare those strangers away!
I remember when I was a newlywed and I worked at JCpenney....on my way home a stopped to get a big gulp and noticed this guy was staring at me. I went home, changed my clothes and someone was tapping at my door. We lived in a basement and who would know that someone lived down in this dungeon? It was that scummy guy!He said he needed to use my phone cuz his car broke down! We had a window on our door! I said no!!!! And would'nt even let him in! I locked the door and hid in my closet! I had major fear and glad I listened to the spirit and didn't open the door!
I am a bit long winded~!
Kristen,
I'm sorry that you are sick now. I hope you are feeling better soon.
Wow. Your story is scary too!!!
Yikes, both of you have scary stories! I don't know what I would have done in that situation. I'm glad you did scream and tell that man that he should leave other people's children alone. Way to go. I'm glad that Kristen was smart enough to not let that guy in. What scary, terrible situations that I never hope to be in! It sounds like both of you handled them just fine.
Scary...
yikes! Yep, I probably would have told him off too. You can't be too careful with your kiddos.
Way to go!!! I would've done the same thing
Yowza! Super scary:( I would have totally freaked if some random person came at us like that and actually touched one of my kids. Good for you for being in tune enough to recognize a possible threat. How much more scary would it have been if he had caught you unaware and did that?...
I missed church too due to a bad fall. Thanks for the Spirit talk. I know that we can discern alot of situations that come up in our lives. I am glad you gave it to that man too. He should have realized that was the wrong thing to do.
I hate when strangers try to touch my kids! It always makes me feel uncomfortable. Good for you to let your feelings guide you to protect your children. Sometimes it's hard for me to distinguish if I'm just being paranoid or not when those thoughts come to me, but better safe than sorry.
I get those little feelings often, but I tend to be a worrier so I often brush them aside. This is a good reminder and I love what Sarah said, better safe than sorry!
I am a very paranoid person too...so often times I always do like you were saying....keep telling myself that I am imagining things. Thanks for the reminder to "listen to the still small voice" .
Your story was frightening and if you had a horrible feeling about him chances are he was up to no good. A mothers intuition is always right. I'm glad you yelled and screamed and hopefully gave him a good scare!
I think it would have freaked me out too! Not sure what I would have done... :S Glad everything turned out okay!
I am a firm believer that there are scary people out there and it's better to be paranoid than sorry. (I might hang that quote up somewhere.) I think in your case, and knowing the wonderful, in-tune person you are, I'm sure you were being prompted. Another thing that was great that you did in that situation was that by telling the guy off, you let your kids know that what he did was inappropriate, and if anyone ever tries it again they will remember what you said and that you stood up to him. Way to go!
Very scary, Tiffani! I'm glad you let the guy have it. I'm sure the spirit was trying to tell you something. Who comes up to little girls to touch them? Crazy!
You did the right thing, you never know someone's intentions and it is better to be safe then pay for it later.
Strangers can be so inconsiderate. Why do they think they can touch your kids? It's so annoying. Glad you were safe!
I would have done the exact same thing. Good for following that instinct!
I don't know what I would have done, but I definitely agree that it is better to be safe than sorry, especially if your mother intuition was ringing off the hook! And even if he was a nice old man, this was a good lesson for him to learn.
This is one of my biggest fears! My kids are so friendly they talk to everyone in the store, drives me crazy, we have a rule they have to have a hand on the cart at all times or else they have to get in, Shayla looks pretty funny sitting in the back of the cart, so she has learned, but Tia is a different story, most of the time she ends up in the back. But on the upside I know where she is at all the time and it saves money on groceries cause I can't fit as many in!!
I think sometimes the hard thing about listening to the spirit is you never really know if you are being peranoid cause you don't know the answer if you didn't listen, but as someone said better safe than sorry!!
Whoa! That story totally gave me the chills... can you say Heebie Jeebies! It makes me so uncomfortable when people try to touch my kids. I always feel bad, like I am judging them or being rude. But I am definately going to put my foot down. You could've had a totally different story to tell. Did our parents worry like we do? I remember my mom leaving all us kids in the car, while she'd shop at Winco, then Waremart. It just doesn't seem as safe anymore. Or we are so much more aware of it now. Who knows? I'm glad you found me. This whole blogger thing is so fun! I love it! Annette
I watched that episode on Oprah and what stood out to me is that usually the "victim" is just trying to be nice, trying not to hurt the feelings of the "offender". That's so true! Good for you for not being afraid to yell at that guy! Who knows what story you could be telling if you didn't!
Kim,
That is what stood out to me too. It's so true isn't it? We are so worried about offending someone who is clearly doing something wrong. That show was so fantastic. I learned so much. Go Oprah!
The same thing you did. I believe in the gift that mothers have of intuition with their children. And I liked how you finished it...at least you don't have to look back on it otherwise now and possibly wish you'd done something different. I completely believe in following those promptings.
Post a Comment