Oh what a night!

To tell this story, I must go back in time, and take you with me. It was the year 1986 and a little 5 year old girl was camping with her Dad and brother. The "boys" left the little girl in the trailer sleeping while they went fishing, the weren't far away from her and her Dad even checked on her at one point. 5 minutes after he did so, he saw a plume of smoke and flames rising from the area where the trailer was parked. After rushing back, he found that the trailer was engulfed in flames and his little girl was inside. He bravely rushed in to save her. Her sleeping bag had fused to her body and she was burned very badly. This little girl is Sage Volkman. We happened to move into her ward when she was about 7. We got to know her and hear her stories and watch her grow and get strong. What a resilient and brave girl.

Now, fast forward to March 29th. I had a speaking assignment at a Standard's Night in another ward. For 2 weeks before I had been preparing for my talk. The subject? Gratitude. I prayed and studied and prayed and pondered. And one day it came to me that I should talk about Sage. I had by chance run across someone's blog that had mentioned her and given some direct quotes from her. For some reason, I had a little hesitation of my own, not exactly sure if I should talk about such an extreme example. I kept getting "nudges" (I guess I need knocks over the noggin) that I should talk about her. So I worked her into the talk.
After the meeting was over, I had a woman come to me with tears streaming down her face. She told me that it was the year 1989 when the story of Sage appeared in the Ensign and her Mom had read the story to her. She proceeded to tell me that she had always felt an attachment to her, and loved her. She attended BYU-I and there she ran in to Sage and became friends with her but had lost contact after all these years. She even named one of her daughters Sage. She was so excited to know that I knew how to contact Sage and hopefully get those 2 in contact with each other! Well, it is still a work in progress. I am her friend on Facebook and I did write her a note explaining the circumstance, and I am waiting a reply.
Oh what a night!
I am grateful for the promptings of the Spirit and even more grateful that I listened.
And I am so grateful for those who recognize and express gratitude when life is less than ideal, even downright cruel sometimes. We have so much to be thankful for, even in times of trial. And maybe especially then.