Let the Holy Spirit guide

Last night I was feeling grateful. Heavenly Father has always watched over me and mine. Here are some of the miracles that I have had the opportunity to be a part of. (and these don't include the countless hours my guardian angels have had to spend on my account because I was doing something incredibly stupid)
When I was about 8, we had a microburst go through our small town. On our property alone, it pulled up an enormous old tree and flattened our grain. I was in the house with Mom and the little kids. She sent me to close the front door which had been open to let in a breeze. The storm door was banging back and forth and with my 8 year old strength, I couldn't pull it shut. I called to my Mom to help me. After we got the door shut, she said something like, "Well, you could have just shut the inside door." Crash! At that moment, one of the railroad ties that had been on the roof (Dad's quick fix to a hole in the roof-- tarp and railroad ties) rolled off of the roof and through the kitchen window above the sink where Mom had been washing dishes before she came to answer my call for help. I remember when I related that story to my primary class, they said it wasn't the spirit at all. I disagree. I distinctly remember knowing at the time it happened that my Mom had been saved by promptings from the Holy Ghost.
My brother Mark was 18 when he was hit by a harvesting truck while he was on the motorbike. I was getting ready for mutual and stirring the stroganoff for dinner. There was frantic knocking at the door. I opened it to find our neighbor Mrs. Ferrell panicked on our doorstep. "A man riding a motorbike has been hit by a truck! We need to call for help!" I let her in to use the phone and then she left. After she left, I realized that I had heard the motorcycle leaving our house about a half hour before. I ran to get Mom because I was afraid it had been my Dad going out to change water. We found Dad, but he said he'd sent Mark out to do the water. My Mom was able to go down the road to the corner and be with Mark-- he was pretty mangled and broken. Several things came to my mind that night after we'd watched life flight take him to the trauma unit in Boise. There are four houses (in fact a house at the intersection) and at least a half mile between where the accident happened and my house, yet Beverly came to us. I remembered the motorcycle. Mark was able to get a blessing quickly because she was there and other neighbors who held the priesthood were there as well. His life has never been the same and maybe protection from that accident wasn't as important as the lesson the rest of us are supposed to learn. However, I knew once again that the presence of the Holy Ghost was there.
I was great with child with Malynn when I got an old sewing table from my Grandma. I wanted the table, just not the old machine that was bolted in. I'd asked Dan to take it out, but of course, he never got around to it and of course, I'm impatient so I took matters into my own hands. Feeling incredibly handy and independent, I got out my screwdriver and proceeded to undo the screws while laying on my back under the table and machine. A sudden thought came to my mind. "Uh, Jill you're dumb. Get out from under that table." It wasn't quite as easy to get the last two screws out by reaching underneath and my big belly got in the way. I was glad for the warning though, when once again.... Crash! The sewing machine that had to have weighed about 30 pounds of solid metal fell right where my head had been. It's amazing how quickly Heavenly Father lets me know that He has just saved my life.
Malynn was a pesky little girl. She wouldn't go to bed at night, so we took to locking her in her room and just let her play herself to sleep. One night I checked on her-- she had the usual plethora of toys surrounding her; the tea set above her head, 20 books beside her and her dolls on the other side. (She doesn't move when she sleeps, because of this early training). She was sleeping, so I left quietly. Then I was told to go back and check more closely. Sure enough, that little buggar had wrapped a string or a rubberband so tightly around her thumb that it was purple. I frantically pulled it off-- she slept through the whole thing.
Last year we went swimming with some of Dan's family while we were in Utah. Valerie and I had all of the little kids (Sophie, Alison and Aaron) in the fountain pool while Dan and James had the three older kids. There was a lot of trading off and running around. I watched Sophie go over to the swimming pool where Dan was with the older kids. Even though I kept up a running check where everyone was, about a half hour later, I felt a need to find Sophie. I looked over at Dan and he didn't have her. She wasn't in the play area. I was scanning the swimming half of the pool we were in and my eyes were drawn to a head bobbing in the water-- mostly under the water. I had Alison, so I couldn't just run over there without her following in a panic. Thank heavens Valerie was there and could get over there quickly and save Sophie. Sophie had tried to go into the big play pool-- only 4 feet deep at it's deepest part, but still when you are 4 and not quite 4 feet, that's too deep. Dan assumed when he let her go that she would come straight to me. She has always been our quiet wanderer. When Valerie gave Soph back to me, Sophie cried, "I was yelling for you to help me and you didn't hear me and I was drownding!" I couldn't hear her over the splashing of the fountains, but the Spirit did and sent the warning forward.
When Malynn gave her experience (that she slept through) for a little talk during the last primary program at church, she ended it with (this was in her own words) "and my Mom thanked God". I do. I thank God that He provided such an audible source for our protection. I know the Holy Ghost has many roles: Comforter, Testifier, Protecter, and bringing things to our remembrances to name a few. Today I am thankful for his presence in my life. I'm thankful that on occasion, he prompts me with such strength that even in my less than spiritual moments, I can be aware. I don't think the knowledge that I am given after the event that there has been divine intervention is a way of Heavenly Father saying, "Look what I did for you." I think it's His way of saying, "I love you and want the best for you. I need you to know that I am a part of your life so that when you do forget and move far from Me, you can remember these experiences and come back."