"Now, my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth" (Alma 26:37).
On June 22, 2012 I knew that God was, and is, mindful of my family and I. It was the perfect summer night. We had all gone to bed and were sound asleep in our rooms after a long day. I slept in the basement and the rest of my family slept upstairs. In the middle of the night my mom woke up to strange sounds. She later described it as popcorn popping. Wondering why the kids were popping popcorn in the middle of the night she walked downstairs. Turning the corner she saw flames. The kitchen window was buckling from the heat, making the popping noise. She screamed "fire!" and instantly everyone was up. I came running up the stairs and came face to face with the buckling window. The whole family ran outside and huddled at the other side of the street. After all the action I later stood next to my family, shivering from the shock. The firefighters had soaked the house completely because the flames had reached all the way to the attic. I slept the night at the neighbor's basement. The next morning we walked through. It was a transformation.
Water was still dripping from the attic and the side of the house was destroyed. Where the kitchen window had been was open space. From the outside we saw the fire had reached my brother, Mark's, room. Mark doesn't wake up quickly and didn't wake up even when the flames reached his room. We realized the smoke alarms had never gone off. If my mother hadn't have woken up when she did he could have been seriously hurt as well as the rest of the family.
I know that God watched over us that night. He knew the fire would start and he knew how to best help us. I don't blame God for the fire, I thank him for saving our lives. I know God lives and watches over all of us. Sometimes it is hard to recognize the blessings in our lives, but he will always be there.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, even so will he clothe you, if ye are not of little faith.
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.
(3 Nephi 13:30-33)
