Reprinted with permission of Joan Wester Anderson, from her website.

Krisellen Lang had lost her first three babies at early stages in her pregnancies. So when she found herself expecting yet again, it was hard to work up any enthusiasm. Why should she begin to love this child when it might never live long enough to be born?

But Krisellen's pregnancy was a result of in vitro fertilization, with four embryos transferred--and the hope that one would implant. When she went to her obstetrician for her first checkup and ultrasound, she discovered that all four embryos had implanted! "It was as if God was giving me all my lost children back," she says. The pregnancy proceeded normally, and her quadruplets, two boys and two girls, were born robust and healthy.

It was a hectic time, and eventually Krisellen's marriage faltered. "Our divorce was mutual and amicable, and David is, and always has been, a wonderful father," Krisellen says. But she was understandably fearful. How would she raise four children alone? Krisellen prayed as she never had before. God had heard her once, she knew, and brought her joy after suffering. Could He, would He do so again?

She found a part-time job at a construction company, and her family pitched in to help care for the quads. It seemed as if she might just make it--until one morning when she stopped at a job site to measure the rooms in a house. Her four three-year-olds were with her, so she brought them into the house to "help."

One of the rooms had a hole in the center of the floor, so Krisellen directed the children to stand at the edge of the room, all except for Addison, who was holding one end of the tape measure. Krisellen took the other end, and started for the far corner. When she looked back, Addison was dancing on her tippy toes, a recently acquired skill. "Addison, stop, you're going to trip," Krisellen said, and then screamed. Addison had stumbled and was falling backwards through the hole!

Krisellen ran to the hole and looked down. Her daughter had fallen eight feet, and was lying face down on the concrete basement floor. Addison was completely still. The other children burst into tears. "Hurry!" Krisellen told them. "We have to get down there!" They rushed out the house and around to the basement stairs. When they reached Addison, she seemed lifeless. But as Krisellen gently lifted her head, the little girl began to vomit. "Her eyes were staring off to the side, and I couldn't bear to look at them," Krisellen recalls. "So I closed them and held her head so she wouldn't choke."

Krisellen called for the paramedics on her cell phone, and sent the other children outside to wait for them. When they arrived, they fitted Addison with a cervical collar and sped away as Krisellen herded the children into her car to follow. Later, the paramedics told her that Addison was completely unresponsive all the way to the hospital. In the emergency room, Addison was examined, then whisked off for tests. "It's lucky that she landed on her face," the emergency room physician tried to reassure Krisellen. "She might be spared brain damage.

"I don't know how that could be," Krisellen told him, "because she fell backwards into the hole."

The doctor shrugged. "That's odd, because there are no bruises on her face."

Something else was odd too. When the radiologist came out to give Krisellen the results of Addison's cat scan and x-rays, he was baffled. "There are no signs of any injuries," he told her. "No concussion, no internal injuries. She may have some bruising later, even a few little facial fractures, and you can give her Tylenol for that. Otherwise, she's fine. You can take her home now."

Home? Krisellen was stunned. How could her daughter have sustained such a terrible fall, with no injuries? But here she was, walking down the hall with a nurse, smiling and completely herself. How could this be?

It wasn't until that evening that Krisellen learned the answer. She and the four children were saying their night prayers together, and they all thanked God for keeping Addison safe. Krisellen started to get up off her knees. "Mommy," Addison looked up. "Aren't we going to thank the angel too?"

"The angel?" Krisellen asked.

"Uh huh. She was with me in the hole," Addison said matter-of-factly. Krisellen started to cry. "Don't cry, Mommy, she was very happy. She was all sparkly!"

Addison never did develop any bruises, but she did make sure that everyone she loved heard about her beautiful angel. And when she eventually moved into another bedroom, Addison asked for angel wallpaper. (Her sister, Blythe, wanted Barbie.)

Today Krisellen still recalls the event with awe. "I never should have exposed the children to such danger," she says. "But I think everything happens for a reason. Perhaps God wanted me to know that I would never raise the children alone, that He would send all the help I needed."