On a cold March morning in 1987 at 6:00 am, I awoke to an unusual odor. While my husband was checking the furnace, our 6-year-old daughter came into the bedroom. "Mommy, I don't feel good," she said, and I watched her fall to the floor. I was lying on my side and became aware of saliva coming from my mouth, and realized that I should do something for my daughter. In that moment, though, I lost consciousness.  When I came to, I was on the deck of our house, with my daughter and 9-year-old son. My husband was experiencing great anxiety and confusion. He had managed to turn off the natural gas, get the three of us outside, open the windows, and call 911. I recall a sense of calmness and relief as I awoke, seeing that our children were awake and alive.   We arrived in the emergency room. As the medical team applied oxygen and started an IV, a nurse commented, "God was watching over this family.  This story could have easily ended in death for all of them." Again this sense of peace and calm overcame me as I thought, "Oh Lord, your people are taking care of me and all is well."   

Later that day, as news spread of our close call with carbon monoxide poisoning, some dear friends told us that around 6 a.m., they felt strongly that they needed to pray for our family and for our protection. They didn't know why at the time, but they stopped to pray for God to watch over us.   We were informed by the doctor that we would experience side effects such as anxiety and insomnia for weeks.  My husband and I did awaken at night for several weeks after and as we did, peace returned, thinking of how our friends had prayed that morning for our protection and God cared for us.

We had been wanting a third child and again, in God's protection I did become pregnant - but not until April when the incident and poison was past! If I had been pregnant at the time, harm may have been done to our unborn daughter.   Easter came in April and I was asked to sing with a group of women in our church. We sang an old gospel song: "Because He lives, I can face tomorrow, because He lives, all fear is gone, because I know He holds the future..." I sang the song with a new perspective on fear: if God could bring us through this, he could bring us through anything.