The Holy Ghost and Unusual Events

Isn't it amazing how the Holy Ghost works. Sometimes it seems like just an insignificant thought. It is hard to tell at times the difference between your thoughts and thoughts that are promptings. A lot of the times if you follow those thoughts that you don't see what who, what, when, when or how it affects your surrounding - who it helps, what was prevented. But last night we (I'm here in mom and dad's "cabin" in Idaho with my brother Nate and his family and sister Britt and her family) had one of those experiences that we were able to see the results of following the thoughts given to us by the Holy Ghost.

When coming in before bed time, Julia (N8's eldest) had the thought of bringing the dogs in when she came in from outside - it was getting dark. So she did.

Nate was just gathering his kids to go read scriptures for bedtime and noticed the kitchen doors open, as they always are. He had the thought of closing the glass the doors instead of leaving the screen doors open because the house was cool enough. So he did.

Minutes afterwards I came up from putting my kids down and was getting my phone out of the kitchen to say good night to Joel (he was unable to come this trip) and say a dog's tailbone out the window on the porch. Oh, it must be Simba (my in-laws German Shepherd who I have seen daily for the past 6 years in Oregon). Wait, Simba is not here, we don't have big dogs here. Oh, must be a neighbors dog, or maybe even a coyote. I walked to the window, and stopped dead. There was a HUGE CAT! I backed away and ran down to Nate to tell him to come. He and his kids ran up and saw the Mountain Lion. He yelled and scared the Mountain Lion, scared the cat away, and Julia yelled again and a second Mountain Lion ran off the porch to be with the first. We did not see the second.

Now think of this: What if Julia hadn't put the dogs away? A tasty treat. What if Nate kept the doors open? A lot of mosquitos, yes, but I would of had a great big surprise when I walked into the kitchen. They were just little thoughts, hard to tell from your own, but there could have been serious consequences had they not followed those thoughts. It is can be easier to tell in hindsight the promptings of the spirit, whether you follow them or not. It is tricky to tell them apart at times. But I am thankful that we were protected.

We called Fish and Wildlife this morning and they said it is highly unusual that they would venture on the porch. They might even show up again tonight...