Today at church a woman gave a great talk about looking for the Lord's tender mercies in our lives... things that many would call coincidences, but that are orchestrating by a loving God. She quoted from a fantastic talk given by Elder David A. Bednar in April 2005. (here is the link: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2005/04/the-tender-mercies-of-the-lord?lang=eng)
Hearing her talk made me think about the tender mercies we receive as individuals and as a family. I decided that for my Family Home Evening (FHE aka family devotion time) lesson I would talk with my family about tender mercies, and ask them for examples in their lives this past week. I was surprised when Matthew was the first to raise his hand to share. He said that this past Friday at his school's movie night he really wanted to win the movie they had shown, Maleficent. He had prayed before the movie started that he would win it. I told him it is a good thing to pray, and asked if he knew a prayer wasn't a guarantee of winning. He said he knew, but that Jesus had told him he would have a chance to win. That night they held the drawing and his raffle ticket was off by one number. He was so disappointed. When we got to the car he said that God had lied to him. I reminded him that God had said he would have a chance to win, then asked if had had that chance. He said he had. I told him God didn't lie to him, and it was okay to be disappointed. Saturday he told me that he had been thinking about not winning the movie, and that it was okay because he could ask for it as Christmas or perhaps buy it on sale later in the year. Today he said that God's tender mercy was giving him that idea, and it helped him not be disappointed any more. Definitely a tender mercy, sometimes his disappointment lingers for a LONG time. I am so grateful for a God who takes notice of us even in the small things like movies.
Ceithlinn said that the tender mercy she received was word that her best friend, Jaelyn, who was diagnosed with leukemia in December, was doing well. She hasn't been able to see her since early December and misses her fiercely. The middle school made a blanket for Jaelyn. One of Ceithlinn's other friends, Adrianna, and her mom dropped the blanket off to Jaelyn. Adrianna was able to talk to Ceithlinn about how Jaelyn was doing, and that eased some of her worry and heavy heart. I am so grateful for the tender mercy of good friends and God's timing.
Josh said that the tender mercy he received this week was getting sick today. He has slept most of the day. It is good to be able to slow down. It is also fortunate that it is Sunday so he doesn't have to cancel any work. Getting sick isn't always seen as a tender mercy, but it really can be when you are overworked and self-employed. There is no paid-time off when you are your own boss. So grateful for God's timing and healing. Josh should be well enough to go to work tomorrow. Another tender mercy, tomorrow's work starts later than usual and he has some break time where no clients are coming in. He can rest if he needs to tomorrow at work.
My tender mercy is a bit complicated. Very long story short. There is a PTA director that keeps giving our president bad advice, meaning it goes against PTA rules and creates more chaos in our PTA. He sent an email stating that effective immediately he will be taking a personal leave of absence for the rest of his term. While I have compassion for the fact that his life has tough stuff going on, I am so relieved that he won't be able to advise our president any more. I am hopeful that things will look up for our PTA, and my stress level will significantly decrease. Big tender mercy, I have been trying to figure out how to work things out with the chaos, and haven't been very successful. This definitely helps with that.
So, what are the tender mercies in your life?
After the meeting today I was able to tell the woman how her talk touched me. In the course of the conversation she said that someone she knew gave a FHE lesson on this topic and then gave each of their children a journal to write their tender mercies in for the week. The next week at FHE they all shared what they had written. It was surprising to some to find out that something they did just to be nice to another family member was seen as a tender mercy... when something happened right when they needed it. I loved this idea.
This week for our family journal time we will write at least one tender mercy we receive during the day or maybe an act of service that may have given someone else that tender mercy. I know that as we do this our gratitude and optimism will increase. I know that love will fill our home. I know we will more closely look for the little miracles and kindnesses. I know we will want to serve more.
I'll let you know how what we discover, and might even share some of our past miracle/tender mercy stories along the way.
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