Scary thing happened today...

Today has been a really peaceful day for me. I have gotten the things I wanted done, finished and it was just really relaxed. So when it was time to go get Cadence I was annoyed to find myself in a hurry. For no reason. I kept looking at the clock while I was getting Rory and Beckah ready for the walk and saying to myself, "There is plenty of time! Why am I feeling like I need to hurry?" It was irritating.

This persisted all the way to the school and while we waited for Cady to get out. One of my mom friends even commented that I seemed agitated and asked if I was okay. So Cady comes running out, talking a mile a minute and I can barely listen to her because an urgent wave of hurry hit me again. I could hear it in my head! You need to hurry home! So I get Cadence walking the right direction and we start walking home at a good clip. Exactly a block from the school the hurry feeling just evaporated. It was crazy and I literally came to a stop and looked up. And right there, in the middle of the street (during the busiest time of day) was a little girl, about Rory's age. Just standing there in the middle of the street looking very confused. There are cars coming so I do what I hope anyone would do, I put the brake on the stroller and dash out to the street and snatch her up and carry her back to the side walk.

Once I had her safe off the street I got down and asked her if she was lost. She told me that she couldn't find her mom. She pointed to the van parked cross the street and told me that was her car, but her mom wasn't in it and she didn't know where she was. I asked her if she wanted to stay with us while we waited for her mom to come. She said yes and Cadence took her hand and we crossed the street to the play ground right next to her mom's van. We can see the school from here and I kept expecting to see a mom running our way calling this girls name. But I didn't.

The little girl told us her name and what her mom looked like and then I had them play at the little park while I called 911. The Dispatcher was very nice and asked me a bunch of questions, some of which I didn't have answers to. Then she asked me, "Can you wait there with her or do you have somewhere you need to be?" I was floored by this question. What kind of person wouldn't wait?

I replied, "Of course I can wait. There isn't anything I can think of that would be more important than making sure this girl finds her family."

The dispatcher stayed on the phone with me while we waited for the police officers to arrive. The little girl was playing very nicely with my girls and it was braking my heart thinking her mom was probably losing her mind with worry right now. Then I see a woman matching the girls description of her mom running with two other kids down the block towards us. They were coming from the school. I told the dispatcher that I was pretty sure we found the mom.

As the woman got close the little girl called out to her and broke into a run. Her momma snatched her up so quick and then practically sagged to the ground. Her other two kids weren't far behind. I about started crying. The mom was crying. I quietly came over and told the mom who I was and how we had found her little girl. The dispatcher told us to wait for the police to get there. Mom had just enough time to get herself back together before the police arrived. The two officers were very kind and were glad that everything had worked out and that they weren't needed after all. The older of the two pulled out some stickers for the older kids and then they went on their way.

The mom sat down on the bench and let the kids play and I sat down with her. She thanked me so many times. I told her that I only did what I would hope someone else would have done had it been one of my kids. Turns out it really was her van that the little girl was trying to get into. :o) She told me that her kids were on the swings at the school when she turned away for a few seconds to say bye to a friend. When she turned back the little girl wasn't there. She looked all around but didn't see her. The panic didn't set in right away. In the end they had most of the school staff looking for this little girl and were just getting ready to call the police when the mom thought to check the car and see if she had made her way back there. That's when she saw me at the park and she said hope just flooded her heart. Suddenly she was sure that her daughter was with me. I hugged her then and told her I was so glad that I had been in the right place at the right time. We sat watching the kids for a bit. Then I asked her name.

We sat there and talked about nothing topics for almost 45 minutes, letting the kids play.

Before we left she gave me a huge hug. Our older girls exchanged numbers to have a play date. It seemed odd to be saying goodbye in such a normal way, considering how the whole thing started.

I know, in my heart, that the Lord was hurrying me. I can't tell you how glad I am that I hurried.