strange but true....and i'm grateful

a random list of strangely true recent happenings.
i can see the had of the Lord in at least the first two, if not all:

thursday night we were startled by a large sonic-type boom that seemed to come from down low, rather than up high. it resonated through the earth and our home. while the details are still sketchy, this is what we have since learned..... a man was building pipe bombs in his home, less than a mile from us, and quite near the temple. one accidentally went off, removing his hand..... how it could make a boom that big, and only take off his hand? we don't know...... why was he building pipe bombs? we don't know that either, but have heard that he is known for his anti-mormon "antics". people in sycamore haven, up the river to the north, said their windows rattled from the explosion. the police reportedly sent robots into the bomber's home to disarm at least 3 more pipe bombs.....we are grateful that it ended as it did.

two weeks ago or so, i was driving along the river road, giving a friend whose car was getting repaired a ride home. she noticed a young boy walking along the road and commented that he was awfully young to be walking alone. it was late afternoon, approaching dusk, and very cold. i didn't think much of it, and passed him by, but then felt that i should pull over and wait for him to approach. i knew that he shouldn't talk to strangers, (or get into a stranger's car!), but felt compelled to ask him a few questions.
me: hi! do you need a ride?
boy: well, yah.
me: where are you going? do you live nearby?
boy: i'm going to keokuk (15 miles away)
me: why are you going to keokuk?
boy: to find my mom
me: where do you live?
boy: nauvoo, but i'm not going back there, i'm mad at my dad.
me: how old are you?
boy: 9
he was an adorable and very sweet little boy. and i wanted to help him, but was unsure how to proceed. so i started offering silent prayers for guidance. and i was able to take him to my home, after taking my friend home, even though he refused to go back to nauvoo, and then track down his grandparents who were most grateful. he goes to school with my little ones, and i know his cousin who is in mia's class. in asking him more questions, it became clear that his father hadn't really done anything wrong, this little guy just felt a sense of injustice in the way his father had handled something, and set out looking for his mom who has been absent for years. i later learned that his mother is only allowed to see him under supervision. i felt how much the Lord loves him to guide us to bring him safely home. if my friend wouldn't have been in the car with me, i don't think i would have noticed him or stopped for him. if she had been driving alone, she wouldn't have known how to find his grandparents. as it was, we each had something to offer in his "rescue". the river road is narrow, winding and very dangerous. it would have soon been dark and very cold. and no one yet realized that he was missing. what if my friend hadn't noticed him or said anything? what if i hadn't stopped? i am so grateful that it ended as it did.

we experienced countless earthquakes during our years in japan, some big enough and long enough to cause quite a bit of anxiety. but now we are experiencing something new: thunder that feels like an earthquake. and it is quite unnerving. we have had thunder that rattles the dishese in the cupboards and makes the whole house shake. wednesday morning brock & i both sat up straight in bed at about 5:40. i thought it sounded like half of our home was being sheared away. brock thought it sounded like we were being hit by hurricane force winds. we were both wrong. it was thunder. and such a storm ensued. each thunder (not clap, not roll...) boom & shake felt like it would last forever. lightning would strike, and the thunder would be immediate and go on and on and on. i have truly never known anything like it. maybe i will get used to it as i did to earthquakes.....we'll see. but the old timers here seemed to be as shocked as we were by the storm. i am so grateful that we were all safe and dry and warm.

Comments

[Emily House]

Pretty freaky thunder. We had a neighbor (about 2 1/2 blocks away) blow up his home. One of my young women lived next door and her home was severely damaged. It was pretty scary. I felt our windows shake and I could see the flames above the homes between us. No one was hurt, not even the arsonist, because he ran out. He had been trying to kill himself.

[Mary Smith]

Wow! Those are amazing stories! So did the guy get arrested? And that is amazing about the little boy. I probably wouldn't have stopped. I tend to think someone else will step in -- I guess that is why it helps to listen to inspiration. And yes, the storms here are killer! I have thought those same things and also the amount of water coming down -- crazy! Us Utah girls aren't used to that kind of precipitation!

[This Girl Loves to Talk]

funny to read what a dangerous place you live in ;) ha hahahah

and that poor boy.. when one of my kids was around 3 she wandered off while we were on holiday... we realized not long after and frantically searched for her.. the country road we were near - the locals drove very fast on.. in the distance we saw a man carrying something lying down.. we honestly thought our daughter might be dead!! he said he saw a little girl along the road in the bushes and thought it odd... he stopped picked her up and started walking against the direction she was going.. hoping to find her parents... what luck.. what if she had stumbled into a dam, or been hit by a car.. or stolen by some sicko.. we would never have known were she was...

it was a blessing you found that boy