Sweet Tender Mercies of the Lord

What a special day it has been! Leif and I were able to meet a dear friend of mine (Heidi Potts Hamilton) and her husband in the St. George temple this morning to do temple work. Temple work is a precious experience in itself. But to be with a friend whom I have grown up with in the temple, and to see her happily married, and to know that we are still on the path to our Father in Heaven together was truly a tender mercy of the Lord for me today.

What is extra special about today is that it was filled with tender mercies. Father was letting me know that He is with me on my journey...  Some of you may have heard me lament the fact that 5 years ago I lost my precious set of scriptures that I used while serving my mission. They were filled with all of the names of the people whom I helped teach the gospel to and watched enter the waters of baptism. They were marked in brightly colored pencil illustrating my testimony of the Word of God. They were mine, and I have dearly missed them over the years.

I knew that they had been misplaced somewhere between our time living in St. George and our move back to Fredonia. In fact, I always figured that I had either left them at church one of the last Sundays in St. George or they were packed away in a box or cedar chest that hasn't been looked in since our move. But for some strange reason we have never gone back to look for them at the church. Well, today we got to St. George somewhat earlier then we thought we would and I knew that we would be driving past the church. So I randomly suggested that we go and take a look to see if they were still miraculously there in the library. I doubted that they would still be there after five years. But we hoped!

As I got out of the car Leif wished me luck and Caleb echoed him with a "good luck Mama!" I walked in to the church and luckily there was an activity going on so there were a lot of people there (more chance of finding someone with the right key to the right door.) In fact, the first person I talked to was that person. He took me to the library and pulled a big plastic bin out from under the shelf and set it on the counter. I lifted one set of scripture off of the top and was stunned to see my scriptures sitting right there like it had been yesterday that they were left there. I was almost brought to tears at the thought that Father in Heaven took the time to make sure they were taken care of until I took the time to come for them. I truly believe it was a tender mercy meant just for me at this time in my life. I needed the hug that I felt. As I flipped through the pages and looked through the names and the markings I felt a remembrance come back to me. These scriptures were like a close friend come home... So grateful to have them back! My sweet family let out a cheer when I walked out with them in my hand. It was so fun to share my joy with them.

Tonight Leif had an after-hours massage. So I was home with the boys. I decided to take the chance to watch a documentary on Netflix that I had put in the queue called Emergency Mine Rescue. It's about the 33 miners that were trapped in a collapsed mine for over two months. Most of you probably watched the story live on T.V. But we don't have television at our house. Internet and Netflix is our media source. So of course we knew about the story and were thrilled about the rescue. But this documentary was Outstanding!! Or rather, the story was outstanding! It was an incredible example of God's ability to produce miracles and the faith that sustained these men, their families, and the rescuers. What a great example for my boys! We loved it, even Caleb (3)! I considered it just one more tender mercy to close an already wonderful day! So grateful for all of the reminders that we are not alone today...