Article November 18, 2002 Issue

Angels on the ski slope

JoEllen Thompson

ONE OF THE BEST GIFTS I've ever had is being able to pray effectively by really knowing that God is here. Another great gift has been sharing that kind of prayer with my children. God has been a wonderful Mother to me and my children. And God has been our Physician, too.

About eight years ago when my son Benjamin was in middle school, he and his friend Martin were taking ski lessons one Wednesday afternoon at Pat's Peak, about 20 minutes away from our home in New Hampshire. Martin's parents and I had a carpool, and it was my turn to drop them off for their lesson—around 4:00 in the afternoon. Since it was January, it was already pretty dark. I dropped them off and they vanished into the crowd of other kids, but I felt that I needed to talk with Ben again. I didn't want to leave without saying, "Please, Ben, use wisdom. Don't do anything risky. Don't be showing off." Ben loved to brag about his skiing and tell everybody how good he was.

I couldn't find him. So I talked to a few people, telling them what I wanted Ben to know and saying, "If you see Ben, please just tell him what his mom said."