Since we were in the process of moving we played musical beds.   I had sold my daughters bed  so she  slept in my room while I took the couch….with the 9 month old puppy.   Before falling asleep I prayed as usual.  I don’t know what all I prayed, but I do know that I asked for God’s protection while we slept.  I slept well and when I woke up headed down the hall to the bathroom which I had scrubbed from top to bottom just the day before.  I was appalled to discover large shoe prints on the floor along with a mess as though someone had cleaned themselves up and left the mess behind.  I immediately assumed my teenage son had carelessly trashed my freshly cleaned bathroom. 

When my son awoke he looked at the shoe prints and assured me that they were not his as his feet were not that big and proceeded to show me that the prints on the floor were at least a size or two bigger than his own footwear.   Quite truthfully the footprints made his size 10 feet look small.  He also assured me he would never make such a mess in a freshly cleaned bathroom. 

My daughter  walked into her bedroom to get some clothes and noticed the window standing wide open.  It had been closed the night before, but not locked.  When she opened her dresser drawer she discovered her small stash of cash missing.  She came to report her findings. 

We lived next to some railroad tracks and presumed someone jumped off the train, came thru the bedroom window, cleaned up in the bathroom, stole the money and left.  All of this happened and the 9 month old hyper-active puppy didn’t once bark. 

We slept through a stranger entering our house while our angels watched over us.  I’ll have to admit that ever since then when I pray for God’s protection I do so with a lot more meaning and appreciation than before.  I used to pray such prayers and then just blithely assume all would be well, without giving it a second thought.   I now truly appreciate the mighty power of the right arm of the Lord.

He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge…. Psalm 14:2