ESPN

There have been many times I have felt a nudge to do something and when I do, I often discover the reason why.  My good friends know this about me, that if something comes together just so, I often say "It was a God thing." The night Teale had her first seizure is an example of that, I felt a nudge and as Mark said at the time, I saved her life. What we would have found in the morning, had I just rolled over and gone to sleep would have changed us all forever. I don't believe I would have Teale in my life today. Saying I saved her life is extreme to me, maybe because the nudge, the voice, was so strong telling me to go to her. I am a believer in God's whispers, in trying to listen for what he says to me. That night the "voice" was yelling, He saved her. There have been way too many times that following what I hear has proven beneficial. Last Summer I was at a wedding and met a very sweet young woman, we bonded quickly. Weeks after the wedding, her Mom called me. It turned out her daughter had shared our story with her of the school we wanted for our daughter. She then realized she had a friend who was on the board for that school and made a few phone calls to try and help us. Our journey had been long to get our daughter in, we had used many avenues also, but we were thankful for one more. Well, I considered that situation a God thing. Why had I bonded with this twenty something year old and told her our story. Why had she told her Mother? Why had her Mom cared enough about my daughter to reach out? Our paths crossed and it gave us one more person in our corner that may have helped us just enough.  Teale was accepted this past April to the school of our dreams. Other God things are more subtle. Everyone has those moments that they know who is calling them without looking at caller ID. Then there are the times you call someone just because they were on your mind only to discover they had something going on and your call was perfect timing. I believe some people tune into those feelings better than others or maybe they just act on their gut more often. My family jokes that I have ESPN, no that wasn't a typo, they don't call it ESP, they kiddingly call it ESPN. I believe Teale is often tuned into things far out of normal understanding. She recently asked me about my friends husband who is struggling with ALS. Teale would have no way of knowing about this situation and yet her compassion came through. She was worried about my friend's husband, I in turn texted my friend and told her. I knew that she would understand and she did, texting me back "she's tuned in baby!" Following a gut instinct can be tricky, my gut has told me my Mother in law has an infection or something isn't right with her a few times. Sure there are physical signs also, but it was more my feeling about her not being right that got us into the Dr. Although it is tough to verbalize to the Dr. why I want her tested, I have been correct often enough at this point that she now trusts me too. My gut told me to get Teale's leg rechecked by her Dr. when ER said it wasn't broken. It was broken. My gut has helped with Teale's care so often, that both her pediatrician and her psychiatrist "go with it" when I suggest something. It is often tough to find people who get this. Often people find it strange, but I bet if you search your memory, somewhere, at some time, you have heard a whisper. Just listen, you may be amazed at what you hear.