A Warning that Saved My Life

An experience of my husband, Garrett Merrick.

When we were first married, I worked as a postal clerk in Salt Lake City, Utah. I attended Brigham Young University during the day, then worked the evening shift in Salt Lake City, Utah making the 45 mile drive home to Provo around midnight.

One winter night  I was busily sorting packages when there came to my mind a vivid picture of a portion of the road that I would be traveling on the way home, along with a strong feeling of danger. I continued to work for several more hours, then began my long drive home. In the light of my headlights I could see that the road was icy. As I crested a long hill and started down the other side, I saw that a car had slid off the road. It  was at the bottom of the deep depression between the two sides of the divided highway.

Concerned that they might need assistance, I pulled off onto the right shoulder. As I opened the car door and stepped out onto the icy road, I suddenly realized that this was the exact place I had seen earlier in my mind at work. Normally, I would have quickly crossed the several lanes of traffic to the car stranded in the middle divide area, but as I remembered the strong sense of danger I had felt about this section of the road, I didn’t cross  immediately. Instead, I paused and evaluated the traffic carefully. I noticed that there was a large truck approaching, but it was far distant. There would be plenty of time for me to reach the car in the middle divide area before it arrived, but still I hesitated.

I decided to wait until not only the truck passed, but there was no other traffic approaching before I began to cross the highway. Partway across I noticed that the road was far slicker than I had expected, and I would surely have fallen if I had hurried across as I had originally planned. After checking with the people in the car and being assured that help was on the way, I again carefully crossed the lanes of highway to my car. Sobered, I sat there for a moment realizing that if I had quickly crossed in front of the truck as I had intended, I would almost certainly have fallen and would not have been able to get up before the truck arrived. As I remember this experience, I am ever grateful for a warning that saved my life.

Tithing Protected Us

We had heard that if you paid your *tithing the windows of heaven would be opened and the devourer would not destroy your fruit, but we never understood what that meant until then. It was 1982 and we were on our way to my parents’ home to spend Christmas with them when a blizzard blew in. After fighting icy roads for a few miles, we decided to turn back. Disappointed, but grateful to be safely home, we called and told my parents that we were unable to come, then checked on the Cambodian family who were staying with us in our basement. We had agreed to sponsor this family of seven, with the help of our community, so that they would not be shot in the refugee camp purges which were occurring at that time.

They seemed fine, but showed us how some lights were not working. My husband checked the circuit, only to discover that some old wiring had come loose and electricity was arcing in our attic. In a short time, there would have been a fire. Stunned, we sat there as the realization came to us that not only could our home and all our possessions have been destroyed if we hadn’t returned home at that moment, but this family of seven might have been killed.  We felt a strong sense that it had been our payment of tithing which had protected us and this family, and we will always be grateful that the Lord kept “the devourer” away.

*As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we covenant to return 10% of  our income to the Lord.
https://www.lds.org/topics/tithing?lang=eng

Protected

I like this video. Yes, we have been protected many times, but sometimes we are not. I have severe health problems. Even though all does not go as we want it to go, we can still have peace.

As I look at the gaping hole and crumbling glass where his truck window used to be, I know my husband was protected. Whatever hit the window, did not hit him. He held steady. Even a small swerve on the freeway in his large business box truck could have cost many lives, but here he was still with me.

I thought of another time, when we were first married