"Now I bless you that as you travel up and down in the earth that you may go in safety and that the hand of the Lord shall be outstretched to save you from accident and harm and sickness."..."I bless you with lengthened days and say unto you that it will be your privilege to live until you have fulfilled the full measure of your creation."
These are two blessings in my Patriarchal Blessing which I was given in my freshman year at BYU. When I prayed for help from the Lord as my only resource and He inched my 49 Plymouth up the slippery hill in Wyoming (on my way back to BYU from Marilyn's wedding in Glendive) I knew that the Lord kept his promises and he would always be there and I trusted in that promise.
I am 89 years old and I need to leave a record of the many times the Lord has outstretched his hand and saved me even when I did not know I was in danger.
The first one was actually in high school. We had been at a high school dance in downtown Glendive. I was probably a freshman and did not have a special boyfriend but my friend Sieve had this big crush on Dean and she wanted me to go with her and have Dean give us a ride home. I do not know if she asked him or what but there was another boy in the front seat and Deloris and I were in the back. No seat belts in those days. We did not know that Dean (and whoever the other boy was) had been drinking and as we left the bright lights of the town and entered the darker area Dean began to speed and soon had the police chasing us. He lost control and we were weaving back and forth and rolling all over and it appeared we were going to crash on one side or the other and then suddenly he took a quick turn into the stockyards and drove into the interior and doused his lights. The other boy had been throwing their cans of beer out of the car in case they got caught. I was praying all along and promising I would never drive with anyone who had been drinking if the Lord would just save us. He did and I never drove with anyone who had been drinking again.
The next event happened as Marilyn and I were driving home from BYU and I am not sure where we were but she was driving and it was very dark, probably in the mountains. Just as we rolled around a corner too fast she accidently knocked the lights out and there was a bridge ahead and we were in the gravel on the right side. Just before we would have hit the side of the bridge or gone into the river below the lights came on and Marilyn quickly swerved onto the bridge. Marilyn really was an excellent driver. Anyway I thanked the Lord for saving us and acknowledged his hand outstretched.
Then there was the miracle in the mountains I mentioned above. Marilyn got married at Thanksgiving my junior year at college. I was to now have the 49 Plymouth at college. Driving back I was to stay ahead of Jeanne and Stan and their children in case I should have a problem they would see me and be able to help me, was the plan. We had no telephones in those days. I was driving alone. We were in 'South Pass in Wyoming which is up and down hills and not a lot of traffic in the winter. I saw a station where I could go to the bathroom and quickly dashed in and out but unfortunately I was not fast enough and just as I was to enter the highway I saw them zoom by. So now I just hoped I could catch up to them. I was almost to the top of a high hill when a car zoomed up on my left and because it was near the top he cut in front of me and I braked and slid down the hill. I did all the right things, backing up and trying to get a run, etc but I could not get that car to go up the hill. No chains, no snow tires, etc. As I sat there at the bottom I talked to the Lord and told him I had tried and tried and I could not do it but I know that He could and I really needed his help. And it was not long before I was trying to go again and we inched all the way to the top. I never forgot the way I felt when that prayer was answered. He did keep his promises and I trusted Him that He is always there. I don't know how, but He is.
In the years to come I did not share that story very much, but I never doubted. And then one Sunday I felt inspired to share it in my testimony when I was living in Lake Almanor and I said I was not sure why I was sharing it that day. It was very evident that a little boy in the audience did not believe it could be and he said quite loudly that it was not possible. The following testimony meeting the mother got up and said. "Last month Sister Hardy did not know why she was sharing her "miracle in the mountain" but it was for us. We had a great teaching moment with our son talking about how God answers our prayers and was always there to help us. Later in the month my husband was late coming home from his snow trip and she and her son had the opportunity to pray for his return while a couple of the men searched for him and he was found." She thanked me for sharing the story as it was a faith promoting experience for her son.
Then there was the time when Melissa and I were driving up the hill out of Susanville. A camper top flew off a truck not too far in front of us. We did not know how to react but just before it could hit us it flew off to our right and out of our path. I thanked the Lord.
When I was working in the Fashion Valley area I had gone to lunch and as I was entering the intersection as the light turned green and suddenly my foot went up and pressed on the brakes and I stopped suddenly and just then a car drove right in front of me. I had not seen it coming at all. I thanked the Lord.
One other time as I was leaving Myrna's house in Manhattan Beach on my way down to San Diego and I had entered the freeway and I saw two cars collide far on the right side of the freeway. I did not react at all but one of the cars whizzed in front of me and hit the center cement and whizzed back again just before I then whizzed by. I thanked the Lord.
One time when I was leaving Susanville some highway patrol were directing us to take Highway 44 because of forest fire. This would take me north to Redding and a long way back. When I had gone a ways a car I was following stopped me and told me he knew how to get back to Westwood on the dirt forest roads and follow him. I did but he was going so fast I soon lost him and was out there in all these forest roads where I did not know where they went and I was needing gas. I was planning on filling up in Westwood. Here again I prayed to find my way out of there and came out just at the gas station in Westwood. Just in time. I did not do that by myself. I thanked the Lord.
The same kind of thing happened on my first day in East Texas after driving from where we were staying in Houston. I ended up on dirt roads again with signs like T34 and did not know where I was. Here again I prayed my way out. When I saw my supervisor the next morning in Houston I asked her what she was doing sending gray hair old ladies out to the boondocks. And she said, "We are the only ones that have any common sense." Well, there was truth to that but I surely did not like it. But I thanked the Lord.
Then there was the time I was at the office in Mission Valley when we were setting up things and I had been filing things in a high four drawer file that had been damaged. I had too much heavy drawers on top but did not realize this was a problem. All of a sudden I noticed a paper on the far right of the table and I walked around the table to get it. Just then the file fell just where I had been standing. I thanked the Lord.
I was in Guam in 2002 working for SBA and we worked in the end area of this huge mall where we would meet victims and process our loans. The mall was on the high part of the island and when we went home to our hotel on the beach we had to go down this very long steep hill. One evening as we sat there at the stop light at the bottom of the hill with other cars in front of us, the driver noticed this runaway car coming down the hill very fast and he had nowhere to get out of the way. I looked behind me and said, "Don't worry, it won't hit us! " When the car got down to where we were it suddenly veered to the right side just behind us and did not hit any part of us. The two guys in the front seat turned around and said. "How did you know that and I told them.though I am sure they doubted what I said. But I thanked the Lord.
There may be "miracles" in our life we are totally unaware of. The Lord keeps his promises. I am not sure why I was being protected but maybe I needed to live a long time for some reason. And I have lived alone for more than 25 years and needed all the help I could get. Plus I was driving alone so much for so many years and surely needed that protection. It was a very good blessing for me in my work and home life. When I got pretty old I stopped letting any grandchildren, great grandchildren, etc ride with me. I was not putting their life at risk when I was not as able as I once was. Common sense or loss of faith. Common sense, I believe. Thinking correctly.
