A Spiritual night

Tonight for Mutual we had a Bishops Fireside and the Bishop strongly encouraged the Youth (and their leaders) to write down the feelings they had in their journal. Well since I am horrible at a journal and this blog is basically my journal I hope you guys don't mind if I share. There is a girl in our ward who is a year younger than me. She had been going to a singles ward and just barely became a part of our ward. She has a great personality and is friendly to everyone. Well tonight she told us her story. I had heard a little about it, but boy was it impactful coming from her mouth. She met and married her husband at 21 years old. He was the love of her life and shortly thereafter they got pregnant and had a little girl named Sage. When Sage was 5 months old, they were driving home from a concert one of her nieces was in, they were hit by a drunk driver. Her husband and Sage died immediately. Natalie, this girl, was thought to also be dead by the first officer on the scene but they were able to revive her and after a traumatic brain injury with weeks in a coma and months in the hospital, she is now 100% better. It is a miracle that she is alive. Imagine becoming a widow and losing your first baby at 23 years old. She shared a DVD with us that was a tribute they put together for her husband and baby. They had taken a ton of home videos and it was so heartwrenching to see her and him on their wedding day, kissing and hugging, in the hospital having their baby and her husband playing with the baby. It made them so real to me and it broke my heart. I also couldn't help but relate to these amazing experiences she had with her husband and child. It broke my heart to think about losing my family. It made me realize that I need to cherish every day and look at every moment as a gift, because it could be gone in a second. The most amazing thing about this experience is Natalie's faith and testimony. She has been through the unimaginable and yet her faith is stronger than ever. It's been almost 5 years since they were killed and she got up there after that touching DVD was shown and testified of her knowledge that she will be with her family again with no tears, just joy in her face. She talked about how thankful she was for the decisions she made so that she was able to marry the love of her life in the temple and the peace it has given her to know that one day she will be able to live with them again and raise the daughter that was taken from her so young. The Spirit in the chapel was so palpable. I knew just by listening to her that she was right and that she would be able to see her family again. It made me so very thankful that the Lord was so kind to guide me onto the right path, even though I made so many mistakes, and help me to see that I needed to live worthily to marry in His house. I think back at all the stupid decisions I made when I was young, and how easily my life could have gone in a completely different direction, and I am just so thankful that I am where I am at today with the wonderful, loving, caring husband I have and the entertaining, precious kids we get to raise. I came home and hugged Mark and sat down with Rex, who then climbed into my lap and proceeded to love and hug on me for awhile. If anyone knows Rex, this is not normal, I can't help but wonder if his little innocent Spirit could feel the impact the night had on me. I love my family and am grateful for every moment I have with them. I am most thankful that I was able to marry in this beautiful temple and that I have the promises that are associated with keeping my covenants.