#39
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Many years ago when my daughter Amber was 3, one day she became very listless and seemed very sick all of a sudden. I had just returned home from work and had sent the sitter home. I went into the bathroom and found an empty bottle of baby aspirin. The sitter had an 8-year old daughter, LaToya, who came with her. I didn't think Amber could have gotten the lid off the baby aspirin, but I knew that the sitter's daughter could have.
I phoned the sitter and said, "Please tell LaToya that she is NOT in trouble, but I need to know if she fed Amber some baby aspirin." LaToya told her mom that she did not.
But by then, Amber was growing more lethargic, and I thought, What else could it be? It had to have been the aspirin. So I put her and her 1-year-old brother in the car to go to the hospital. I called my husband to meet us in the emergency room.
When we got to the ER, they took blood samples from Amber, who by now had dark circles under her eyes and was lying listlessly, not moving or making a sound. She let the nurse insert a rectal thermometer without a peep, so I knew something was very very wrong with her.
I asked the nurse what they could do if Amber had swallowed all that aspirin. Enough time had passed that it was too late to pump her stomach.
The nurse looked very distraught and worried and said, "There is nothing we can do. It's in her bloodstream. Do you want some valium?"
THAT's when I started praying. I have never in my life prayed that hard to God. I promised that I would go back to church (which I did) and try to live a better life, if only my daughter's life would be spared!
When my husband arrived, he was very upset. I kept praying as hard as I could.
About 10 minutes passed when suddenly, Amber sat up and started talking like the normal 3-year-old she was. She seemed JUST FINE!
We were still concerned because we did not have the lab tests back yet and wouldn't know what was happening from a medical standpoint.
When the report arrived, the doctor brought it in and said, "The lab report shows that there is no acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) in her bloodstream at all."
Given the good health Amber was displaying with her laughter and normalcy, he advised that we just go home.
I have never forgotten that answered prayer. Years later when I read Embraced by the Light and heard about the pin points of light as prayers reaching up to heaven, I immediately thought of that experience with Amber and my Mother's Prayer.
Having shared this, we must be careful not to make others feel bad if their prayers are not answered as mine was. Sometimes things are just not meant to be and are not in the Master Plan. But as my daughter turns 26 this next April, I am thankful every day that she is here on earth.
Peggy Dallas, TX
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