After reading a couple of posts concerning my youngest's knack for escaping, you will understand why we now own a monkey back-pack leash & have added alarms to the front door, back door and the door going into the garage that makes a horrible chirpping noise when the door is opened while the alarm is set. Our basement door came with a dead bolt lock located very high up.
With that being said, here's what happened:
This one night, I believe it was a Monday, I was exhausted, my hubby was channel surfing & we were talking about stuff, and the kids were playing the PlayStation in older boy's room - this was after we had been to the store as a family. It was getting close (actually past) bedtime, so my hubby started getting the kids around, and I had to try to finish up some laundry in the basement that I forgot about; I heard crazy running around upstairs and got a bit irritated since they were so riled up at bedtime, when my hubby threw open the basement door & asked if lil guy was down there with me...he wasn't...
We looked in all of the weird places he likes to hide, we tried to find new ones. The last place we knew of was in the bedroom watching the kids play the game. None of the alarms had gone off, so we didn't think he'd gone outside, but we thought we'd check the doors anyway...the alarm wasn't reset on the door going to the garage. We forgot to reset it when we came in, so we figured he was playing in the garage...GRRR...so...we opened the door...and found...the garage door open! Apparently a broom had fallen into the laser path of the garage door opener sensor & never closed! GULP!!
Little boy...new town...after 10:00 @ night...how did he get past all of us?? We are replaying the night in our heads: were the kids too into their game to see him leave the room?; were we too into our conversation to hear the door to the garage being opened? So, I did what any mom would do - I ran out of the house to search for him! Teen Girl? Hysterically crying & SCREAMING his name through the neighborhood, so much so that she fell in one of our neighbor's sloped driveways & scraped herself up...I am trying to keep her as calm as possible while I am terrified inside...older boy is joining the search on the other side of the street & my hubby takes off in the minivan...
OOPS!! That leaves no one at home incase he shows up! So Teen Girl & older boy go back to the house, hubby continues search by driving & I go the the church parking lots to see if he has tried to get into any of the doors or is playing on the playground equipment. As I searched the last parking lot with no sign of him playing on the playground, the minivan pulls up to see if I had seen any sign of him...
At this point, I drop to my knees in hysterical prayer, praying to God that my son is safe & fine & we will find him OK...then I hurry up to run to the other side of the church & across the street...because...there are woods there - what if he'd gone there?
As I am running (barefoot) toward the woods, the minivan pulls up again...my hubby tells me to get it...he's been found...
At home...
Asleep in bed...
WHAT???
Yes indeed, the kids got so into their game they didn't realize he'd put himself to bed. Uh, he had no nap that day.
Apparently the kids got home & Teen Girl made older boy hold our prayer shawl with her (a beautiful ministry at our church that we were given a gift of when we moved), and pray hard for lil guy to be found...then...they heard something...like a creaking of a bed...
So, they looked & there he was, fast asleep. He had no idea what chaos had been going on.
My hubby used this as a devotion soon afterward. He told some campers that when we want to see God, we expect to see Him right there & then, but if we don't see Him out in the open, we search frantically...but He is there all along, we just tend to look right past it.
Oh yeah, and we ALWAYS make sure the alarms are set, too.
Stay tuned for more...
God Bless, AM~Erica
