*Author's note; I have known Lori for many years and felt her story , while not our usual lighter fare was indeed a story of hope and resiliency. I hope you feel the same and will share its powerful message.~Amanda
This isn’t going to be one of those light, fluffy stories,
but I promise it has a happy ending. Most days of your life, you go about your
business, quietly taking care of your family, helping others, trying to live a
good life. But, there are those rare moments when everything comes crashing
down around you and makes you question everything you’ve ever done or believed
or stood for. Maybe you lose someone close to you, struggle to make ends meet
or get your heart broken. I had one of those moments this week and came the
closest in my life to someone hitting me and possibly even killing me. It came
from a completely unexpected source who I thought wasn’t violent.
My husband and I have been married 29 years and together 32.
We live a quiet life and raised our two daughters in a quiet town. We go to
church, volunteer, go to family gatherings and try to help others when we can.
However, someone we were trying to help completely violated our trust this
week. I’m not going to go into all the gory details of what happened, because
he is the father of my only granddaughter. Suffice it to say he is no longer welcome
in my home or around me and he is in trouble for putting his hands on my
daughter.
During a moment when someone tells you that they are going
to kill you and rages at you with fist drawn back, a lot of things go through
your mind. The number one thing, though, was protecting my daughter and my
granddaughter who I was holding at the time. I was also worried about my little
doxies getting hurt as they are very protective of me.
God gave me the clarity to somehow talk him down and he
didn’t hurt me and I was able to get the baby to safety. Those tense moments
have left me questioning a lot of things, though. Did I handle the situation
right? I said words which obviously triggered him in a way I didn’t realize he
could be triggered. Most of all, though, I walked away from this situation so
very thankful for God’s protection. My daughter is okay. My grandbaby is okay.
I am okay. Even my dogs are okay.
I see where things came together to help us be safe. Our
neighbor, who is a police officer, pulled into his driveway moments before my
daughter picked herself up and ran to get help. Her thinking is clearer than it
has been in months. And even for the young man who hurt our family on an
emotional and physical level, I am hoping he gets some help through this. While
I don’t want him near me again, I do hope he finds someone who can help him get
a grip on his horrendous rage.
While this could have been a tale that didn’t have a happy
ending, it does. I know who watches over me and I have faith all will be well
in the end. Yes, this is a hard time and it was scary, but we have so many
happy times and such a big, amazing family who prays for us and watches out for
us. In time, this memory will fade and we’ll move on. When I laid down to go to
sleep last night, after a very long and grueling day, I remembered a verse we
memorized when I was in grade school. It was the 23rd Psalm and the
words “he restoreth my soul” kept going through my brain. God indeed restores
my soul and it is enough.
Lori Soard lives in southern Indiana where she writes
stories set in the small towns she’s lived in and grown to love. Small towns
have a rhythm all their own and characters who make the days more interesting.
Many of these types of characters appear in her books. She’s been married to
her high school sweetheart for 29 years. They have two grown daughters, a new
granddaughter and a myriad of pets.