Today's little miracle.

Last week, I took the kids in for their dental check ups.

Four kids. All at the same time.

Where's the special prize box for the moms, I'd like to know?

They all did well, however. Only one had cavities.

My youngest. Sigh....

The dentist suggested we do a "conscious sedation" to ensure success at her next appointment.
(Multiple cavities to fix, poor fourth child.)

This involved having her take several oral medications that would make her calm and drowsy. The dentist specified that it worked well 80% of the time. He said about 20% of the time it didn't work, or had the opposite affect, making the kids super hyper.

I felt ok with it at first, thinking back to the very first appointment with all the screaming and kicking.

But later that night I prayed about it. I received a very strong impression that we should not do the conscious sedation.

I talked it over with Jeremy and he had the same feeling.

I felt very confident when I called the dentist and told him that we would not be using the extra medication. He was a little surprised even though I assured him it would be alright. I could tell he wasn't totally convinced, but he was willing to try, bless him.

We coached Anna on what was going to happen. We let her pick a movie to bring. She picked which stuffed animal she wanted to show the dentist. We promised her a present if she was good. Believe it or not, we also tried to make it seem like it wasn't that big a deal. I also prayed earnestly with lots of faith to know exactly what to tell Anna without needlessly worrying her. She's a pretty smart cookie, ya know.

Nevertheless, I felt a trickle of doubt when I woke up this morning.

Jeremy squashed that doubt for me when he gave Anna a father's blessing.

And then we were off.

Forty-five minutes later a very impressed dental staff was giving Anna hugs and passing out prizes. They could not believe how good she was. She was still, pleasant and cooperative the entire time.

With the conscious sedation, the appointment would have lasted 2 hours.

She did not like the feeling of her mouth being numb, but we assured her it would go away. We went to Target and perused the toy aisle. It was fun to just look at toys with Anna and see what she got excited about. She was so excited to pick out a toy, just for her.

She chose a little toy mixer with a chef's hat, apron and hot mitten.

On the way home I said a little silent prayer and gave happy thanks to my Heavenly Father for hearing and answering our prayers. I know it seems like a very simple thing, but to me it was huge. And to Anna, it's evidence of our Father's loving care for his children.

I don't know if anything bad would have happened if we had gone with the conscious sedation, but I do know that because we listened to the promptings of the Spirit and exercised a little faith, our testimonies are a little bit stronger.