It seems whenever the Lord sends you a wonderful blessing,
say, a baby, there is a certain amount of trials that follow. Why does this
happen? I think it has a lot to do with keeping our trust in the Lord and
putting Him at the head of our lives. Maybe our family just needed a lot of
reminding over the past few weeks. While we have definitely had our share of
difficulties lately, we have also been so abundantly blessed to see the tender
mercies of the Lord through it all.
What is a tender mercy? Apostle David A. Bednar stated that,
"the Lord’s tender mercies are
the very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection,
assurances, guidance, loving-kindnesses, consolation, support, and spiritual
gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ."
A tender mercy is a way of knowing how aware the Lord is of
us and what we are going through. Elder Bednar continues by saying, "Truly, the Lord suits “his mercies according to the
conditions of the children of men” (D&C 46:15)." I love that! Not every person
sees the tender mercy as you do. It is completely personal and unique!
So, for posterity's sake, here's a brief rundown of these
trials we've been going through. Soon after we came home from the hospital, the
ceiling in Ellie's room started leaking. First it was just by the window, but
within days it was leaking across the entire room and down the walls. Then our
dryer decided it had had its last hurrah and died. To fix it would be $300. We
bought it for $100. Danny took the car in to have an oil change and was greeted
with the news that our tires were shot and that our car was leaking oil. We
just bought tires last spring. On the morning of February 10th, my dad was
taken to the hospital via ambulance. Anyone who knows my dad well is aware that
the last time this happened, he was not expected to live through the ride to
the hospital. And lately we've all been taken out by a nasty cold (well, I had
the stomach flu. Yeah!) that has made me contemplate starting my own nursery at
church. In the midst of all these things, some new opportunities completely
unforeseen before have crossed our path. So we've been praying and pondering
what's best for our family.
Now on to the fun part. Tender mercies we've seen. Around the
same time Ellie's ceiling started leaking, maintenance fixed the roof. The
morning after we had the sad news about our dryer, Danny found an envelope
containing $300 in his desk from some anonymous coworker. Danny took our car
back to have it looked at again. This time the manager did it and told us that
nothing was wrong with our tires. (According to Danny, the manager really let
the scum-of-an-employee have it. Walmart Tire Center will never be the same.)
We also had our "oil leak" checked out. Doesn't exist. We came home
from church one Sunday soon after and found $100 in an envelope taped to our
door. We are so blessed by others' generosity. So thankful! My dad went in to
the hospital on the 10th. The 9th was my original due date. My mom was going to
fly here on the 7th. If Caleb hadn't decided to come 3 weeks early, my mom
would have been here in Utah. My sister would have been all alone with my dad.
(My dad is completely fine now. They're still not sure what happened, but
they've made some adjustments to his pacemaker.) And while we've been sick the
past week and a half, the sweet members of our ward have gone out of their way
to help us.
The Lord is truly aware of our individual needs. When I am up
late worrying as my (almost) 2 month old suffers from that exasperating booger
up his nose that I can't do anything about; when I feel guilty for putting in a
movie for Ellie instead of being the fun mom I want to be, but I just don't
have the energy; when I feel Danny's stress because we're still getting hospital bills, I know without
a doubt that the Lord will send his tender mercies to us. I've seen them
multiple times- in a hymn, in a talk or a prayer, in the smile of the cashier
at the grocery store, in the intuition of my mom when she calls at a really
rough moment in my day. These are the small assurances the Lord sends to us to
know that everything will be ok. He is in charge and in the end, Caleb's booger
will go away, Ellie will quote movies like me and be able to play outside when
it's warm, and we will pay those bills. Everything always works out if we put
the Lord first. The "windows of heaven" always open just in
time.
Ultimately, I'm grateful for these challenges. I grow and
learn and become who I need to be. They shape and direct our future. I pray
that I can continue to see the tender mercies of the Lord. What a blessing they
are! Oh, and here is
a link to Elder Bednar's talk "The Tender Mercies of the Lord." Read
it.
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| Poor Ellie! Her nose and cheeks are raw from all the nose-wiping. |
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| Caleb was the only one who dressed up for St. Patrick's Day. And he was happy about it. |
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| Frozen always helps you feel better. |
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| Bubbles |
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| Smiling through the phlegm. |
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| Sometimes we dress up in Mrs. Potato Head's accessories. |
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| Feeling a little better. |
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| Thanks again, Mrs. Potato Head. |
