With all of the calamities going on in the world, sometimes I feel almost foolish about offering up my prayers for all of my seemingly insignificant needs; concerns about each child, the need for more patience with a child, needs of extended family members, pleas for guidance in certain circumstances, etc. I have found myself wondering if little old me really mattered to my Heavenly Father and if He really was mindful of me and the problems of my life with all of the major things going on in the world. These thoughts were not at the point of weighing heavily on me, but just kind of itching subtly in the back of my mind. What I have come to know, again, is that He definitely is conscious of each of our worries and needs and very aware of what is going on in each of our lives. There are a couple of things that have reminded me of His love for each of His children lately.
Yesterday was family picture day for our family. We only get a professional portrait of our family taken once every 3-4 years, so I was desperately hoping that the kids would behave and cooperate. As we were getting ready (a very stressful thing each mother knows well), the skies began to darken and snow started to fall. I found myself thinking, "I take sooo many pictures for people as a service and of course the weather won't be good once every four years for me to get a picture done. . ." Not to mention, 4 of the 5 kids had taken their turns crying about what they had to wear, and that they didn't like their hair. I of course felt like praying for the weather to cooperate and for the kids to be good was a ridiculous thing to pray for, so I didn't and just continued to get more and more frustrated. We decided to still meet the photographer, even though snow was falling on our windshield as we traveled to our picture location. We got out of the car, and all of a sudden I looked up to see the clouds part, the sun shine through and the temperature warm considerably. And then to top it off, the kids were good! Ashton only crawled into the fetal position refusing to participate ONCE! I felt like it was Heavenly Father showing that even in this small instance, He cared and wanted to help me.
After that, we decided to treat the kids to Chili's for dinner because of their "mostly good" behavior. We ate a great meal enjoying fun conversation and then when we were done, discovered NEITHER ONE OF US HAD OUR WALLETS WITH US. OHHHH NOOOO!! How completely embarrassing. We explained our predicament to the assistant manager who then had the manager come over to our table. We asked if we could be allowed to leave and call in our credit card number over the phone, hoping she would trust us. Then, it happened. In a quiet, kind voice she said, "We would like to give you your meal for FREE." We were dumbfounded, looking at each other not knowing what to say for several seconds. We expressed that we couldn't possibly do that and we definitely wanted to pay. She took it even further and said that if we called to give our credit card number to pay, she would not accept our call and that she really wanted to do this for us. She even said she wanted to take care of our waiter's tip so we didn't have to worry about anything. She really just wanted to do something nice for us -- total strangers! Wow. I was so incredibly touched by this gesture that I felt tears coming to my eyes. When we got home, we talked about whether we should go back and pay, but then felt like it would take away from the kindness she genuinely was trying to render. The better thing, we decided, was to pay it forward; take what she had done for us, and find someone down on their luck and make it THEIR lucky day. Could we have easily payed for our meal once we got home? Yes. Was it even about the money? I don't think so. It was about a kindness from one stranger to another. I thought about how Heavenly Father often works through other people and how maybe this was Him again showing His love for me. How thankful I am for Heavenly Father's "tender mercies" that show each one of us that we are loved.
And on a totally different note, take a look at this link that I just ran across. No I don't agree with many of Obama's decisions, but once in a while revenge for comments and actions that have taken the focus of our country totally offtrack, truly can be sweeeeet. Sorry Donald. But not really.
Sweet Revenge (click on)
6 comments:
I too often feel it absurd to ask for blessings, especially menial ones, because I have been given so much. We are so truly spoiled when compared with the vast majority of the world--even with the majority of America for that matter and yet God still pours more blessings out upon us. He still listens and cares. I am and will forever be humbled by his endless love and consideration for little ole insignificant me!
Sandy, wow, I was thinking about you guys yesterday as I was driving in the snow wondering how on earth you would be able to take pictures. I'm so glad that it was decent weather for you! Definitely a tender mercy. That story about Chili's was awesome. How nice of someone to do that. That will be a great teaching moment for your entire family I'm sure the older ones won't forget the kindness of the manager. That's a great story!! Thanks for sharing!
I have had many, many tender mercies in my life so I ca relate to your feelings when it happens. The Lord does care about each of us personally and ministers to our needs in a way that is best for us. For some reason, I have always known how hard-working those servers at restaurants are. They deserve understanding and respect and if anything is amiss it's usually because there isn't enough help and they are running around trying to do the impossible. Beautiful story. Needs to go to the Ensign.
Great reminder of how blessed we truly are--even if we have to 'look for it' more some days than others.
Last year we had a kind couple who were probably in their 50s pay for our meal. They went to our church, but we didn't know them well at all. They walked past us on their way out and we said hi to them but didn't talk to them at length since we didn't know them. Then when we went to pay for our (whole familys) meal we were told that the couple had paid for it all when they paid for their own. I felt the same way- totally amazed and close to tears. No one had ever done that for us before. Completely unexpected. Of course we thanked them at church the next week and they were very nice. Interestingly a few weeks later they left the church and never came back. We never saw them again, but we heard that they just decided that they weren't interested in returning to church.
Funny you should post this... I had been feeling the same way lately. Then I had to give the Releif Society lesson on 2 lines of communication and relized that our Father in Heaven wants and needs to hear from us daily no matter how simple our prayer is. What a sweet post!
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