The Miracle That Saved My Grandparents

Most of us think about miracles in the biggest sense. We think about when the Savior healed the sick, made the blind see and the deaf hear. He even brought a few people back from the dead. Including himself. I don’t disagree that these instances are nothing short of pure miracles sent from God but I think we only see miracles in these ways, through these examples. I believe we often think that a miracle can only be defined as momentous, life changing or life saving.

I like to think miracles happen every day. We just don’t notice them. I like to think that God’s hand dips down from Heaven and puts just the right miracle in our lives at just the right time, big and small, more often than we realize.

A magical, life saving, God inspired, straight from heaven miracle happen to my family recently and I think it is important to take time to marvel over the moments that saved my grandparents’ lives.

On March 3 around 1 o’clock in the morning, my grandparents’ home for the past 40 years started on fire. The garage, both of their cars and part of the house were burnt to the ground. The rest of the house has been destroyed beyond repair by smoke and heat damage. Most of what they own is ruined and many memories cannot be saved.

The obvious miracle here is that my grandparents got out alive and we will thank God for that every day. But I think a smaller miracle happened in the process that should not go unnoticed.

For whatever reason, my grandpa couldn’t sleep that night. It got to the point where he decided to just get up, get dressed, make some coffee and turn on the TV. He eventually heard some noises in the garage and decided to see what was going on. After struggling to get the door open, he found the garage in flames. Things were already too out of control for anything to be done besides to get out of the house.

Frantic calls to 911 were made and my parents, aunts and uncles rushed to the house as soon as they heard the news.

It is truly a miracle that they were able to get out of the house in time BUT if it were not for my grandpa not being able to sleep, I am not so sure any miracles would have happened that night.

In my imagination, I see God’s hand coming down from Heaven, poking my grandpa awake numerous times. I can see the Spirit whispering in his ear to just get up because he wasn’t sleeping well any way. I imagine God’s hand taking the covers off of him and nudging him out of bed.

It is not just a coincidence that he could not sleep that night. That he got out of bed, turned on the TV, made some coffee. That is God. That is God’s hand stretching into our earthly world to perform a miracle that would save my grandparents lives.

The Savior’s physical touch that saved so many lives may not be on earth today but I know and believe that his spiritual touch grazes our lives everyday.

Miracles can be big but most are small and most go unnoticed. I pray that I will try harder to see the miracles God places in my life each day and I pray I will never forget to thank God for those miracles. Especially this one.