Believe in the Power of Prayer

I believe in the power of prayer. There have been too many times in my life that I've received answers to prayers, that could not be coincidental. I recently remembered one such occasion, and would like to share it with you.

As we raised our children, we did our best to instill in them values. We also taught them to believe in God and in the Savior Jesus Christ. We took them to church, had family nights, and started very young teaching them to pray. We taught them to say their personal prayers, and we had family prayer every morning. We weren't perfect at it, but we did the best we could.

At the time of this story, we were living in Nashville. Dallas was 2 1/2 and Dakota was 3 months old. We lived in a nice apartment complex on the second story level. The people who lived beneath us were wonderful. They took our kids on like adoptive Grandparents and were always sweet and helpful. We had a deck that went out from our living room. It was completely enclosed by a solid 4 foot railing, so you couldn't see through it. Dallas liked to look over and talk to the neighbors as they came and went (and would occasionally throw things over so that I'd have to go get them.) He would push a patio chair up to the edge and stand on it so that he could see over the railing. I would watch him and he would entertain the neighbors as they came and went. One day, Mike was late leaving for work and was in a big hurry. As he went to leave, I had the overwhelming feeling that we should have family prayer before he left. I tried to dismiss it, thinking since he was late, I would have prayer with the kids after he left, but the feeling got stronger, so I asked him to hurry and have prayer before he left. I quickly said the prayer, feeling prompted to ask for our family to be safe and protected. Later that day, Dallas asked to go outside, so I opened the sliding glass door for him and left it open so I could watch him while I sat down to feed the baby. After several minutes of him watching the parking lot, I saw him push himself up on the railing and disappear over the edge. I froze in fear. I stared at the railing thinking I must have seen something different and didn't move until a loud pounding and yelling came at my door. It was my downstairs neighbor who grabbed the baby from me, and shouted that I needed to get to Dallas down on the grass below. They had been sitting in their living room watching tv when they saw something fall over the edge. They first thought it was just something that he had thrown over, but quickly noticed it was him. Her husband was on the phone with 911 when I got to Dallas. He was trying to get up, and I held him as carefully as I could. Soon we heard sirens, and he was taken to the hospital by ambulance.

Mike was called by the neighbors and met us at the hospital. After numerous tests, x-rays, and prodding, Dallas was declared perfectly sound. They found not even one cut or bruise on him. Under our deck was a cement patio with sharp rose bushes surrounding it. He somehow missed the concrete and the bushes, and landed on his stomach on the grass next to them. The doctor said that the way he fell was the only way he could've survived a 15 foot fall with no injuries. Had he fallen any other way, he could've broken his legs, back, neck, or crushed his skull. He said it was a miracle, and I know he was right! I KNOW that I needed to say that prayer for protection that morning, and that my Heavenly Father knew it, too. I am grateful for the power of prayer and for the many times it has brought me peace, comfort, and protection in my life.