Category: Believe

Come To Know The Why

With my intense anxiety on slick roads, being in a solid, secure vehicle with suitable tire traction for the projected conditions was a singular, come to know the why moment, a reason, if you will, our car randomly stopped working. 

Have you ever asked yourself these questions, silently or out loud, “Why do bad things happen to good people?! Why did this happen to me?! Why did this happen for me?!” Though the answers may remain a floating question, without an answer and elusive at times, other times you may, to a degree, come to know the why, the reason for the reason. One such time for me came the weekend of my dad’s unexpected passing. 

Each morning, after I drop off my youngest at school, I will back into a parking spot until about 15 minutes beyond the school start time, as vehicles coming and going can get pretty congested and crazy, which in turn spikes and intensifies my anxiety. While I wait out the time for a bit, I’ll turn off the car to conserve gas and either attend to various tasks on my phone, read a physical book, or listen to a podcast. 

On this particular Thursday morning, upon ready to head back home, as I turned on the car, it would not start. A slew of flashing lights appeared on the dashboard. Not only that, it was as if the car lost its grounding and was slipping away. It felt like the car was moving forward. Even with my foot on the brake pedal, I was concerned about the car rolling into the parked car in front of me, so I applied the emergency brake as well, which seemed to do nothing at all. 

Not knowing what was going on, I straightaway pulled out the dealership manual from the glove box to figure it out, and still, with no idea how to solve for what was going on, I reached out to my husband who came to my assistance. We ended up leaving the car in the school parking lot. Once home, I called the dealership and learned it was likely the battery. My husband returned to the school and jumpstarted the car, alone a tender mercy I had backed into the parking spot, and the car then sat in our garage, undriveable for several days before the proper installation of a new battery could take place. In the meantime, it was a tender mercy we had a backup vehicle to drive, a truck in particular.  

The next evening as my husband and I had just finished a dinner date, I received a text from one of my siblings that I was processing as we were leaving the restaurant. I wasn’t sure what to make of the message, if it was for real or not. We did not travel far before I elected we stop and pull into a gas station and I shared with my husband the message, “not sure if dad will make it through the night”. The validity of the message left me up in the air as to what to do. Though uncertain, as I had no preliminary knowledge of my dad being physically unwell, I decided it would be better to go see him than not. 

It was a tender mercy not only that the gas station we had stopped at was right next to the interstate that traveled directly up to my dad’s residence, but also that we were in the truck the evening of the first winter storm advisory of the season. With my intense anxiety on slick roads, being in a solid, secure vehicle with suitable tire traction for the projected conditions was a singular, come to know the why moment, a reason, if you will, our car randomly stopped working. 

Upon reaching my dad and visiting with him and getting updates from my siblings, I learned that one and half weeks earlier, my dad was vibrant, vivacious, and energetic, and it was shared that he could live another 20 years. And then, just like that, over a one week span, his bill of health declined. Though his physical appearance looked frail, he was coherent in conversation and mentally cognizant of his surroundings. As the evening hour waned and my dad expressed desire to rest, my optimistic self believed he would make a full recovery, which carried me through the night as my husband and I returned back to our home. 

The next morning I received a call from a sibling that had stayed with my dad through the night and attended to his care. As he observed my dad’s suffering in the early morning hours, before daybreak he took him to a hospital emergency room, upon where my dad passed the moment he was wheel-chaired inside. 

As my mom, no longer married to my dad, and many of my siblings were gathered around my dad’s emergency room bedside until they moved him to the morgue in the basement of the hospital, it was decided that we would all go back to his tiny apartment and move his minimalistic belongings from his place to one of my sibling’s place who lived nearby. The question was asked if anyone had a truck. Though a very surreal moment that my dad had in fact passed away, it was a tender mercy, with our car inoperable, my husband and I had come up in the truck. 

When our car randomly stopped working, I had no idea that two days later my dad would unexpectedly pass away and that being in the truck would be a tender mercy. In addition, my receiving the message and being with and conversing with my dad the night before he passed was a blessed tender mercy! 

As the weekend unfolded, I had come to know the why, the why my reliable car, without warning, had faltered a couple of days prior. 

When have you come to know the why something undesirable happened “for you”, which, the occurrence, in and of itself, was a provided tender mercy?

tendermercym❤️ments~jld

“How have you noticed Heavenly Father’s awareness and mindfulness of you today?”

*If you would like to receive an email when new posts are published which includes an audio version of the posts as well, please send your name and email address to tendermercymoments@gmail.com.

Maintain The Course

Halfway into my travels to go explore and visit an out-of-town festival, I received a notification that it was scheduled to end before I arrived. Prior to leaving my house late afternoon, I found no information with an end time listed. I assumed the festival would run until early evening being that it was a weekend and we were on summer daylight hours. Regardless of the untimely and surprising message, I stayed the path leading to the event believing I may still be able to observe a tail end portion of it. I arrived 20 minutes after the supposed end time and the festival was still going strong. 

I could have turned around and returned home when I got the news, instead I maintained my course and continued forward. It was a tender mercy the festival was still in full swing. It was a wonderful experience being in attendance and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the beauty of another place within our state. Even if I had missed the festival, the drive there and back was very calming, relaxing, and nice.   

When have you maintained your course and continued forward towards an event a short distance or miles from home even after learning it would be over before you got there and upon your arrival, it was still going strong?

tendermercym❤️ments~jld

“How have you noticed Heavenly Father’s awareness and mindfulness of you today?”

*If you would like to receive an email when new posts are published, please send your name and email address to tendermercymoments@gmail.com.*

Unanswered Prayer Answered

Quite regularly, as of late, when we turn the water on from the inside or outside our home, the pipes shake violently concurrent with a loud turbulent sound. Prior to our family leaving for a vacation, I wanted to run the dishwasher. Following our last meal and after I had finished prepping food and snacks for our trip, I started the dishwasher.

Though it was questionable whether there would be ample time for it to run in its entirety before it was time to go, I was praying and hoping it would at least get to the dry cycle before we left. It ran longer than I had anticipated and when our departure time approached, the wash/rinse cycle was still going. I felt it was pertinent and critical to wait till it reached the dry cycle so I lingered a bit longer thinking the wash/rinse cycle would stop any minute. 

I believed my prayer would be answered so I would not worry about any potential damage to our home while we were away, unfortunately that was not the case. At least, not in the way I had expected. When I held off as long as possible and it was time for us to go even with the dishwasher still running, I heard a still small voice whisper “all will be ok”. I felt a calmness and assurance all would be well. Although my prayer was not answered in the manner I had asked, my prayer was answered. 

When has your specific prayer not been answered in the manner you had asked, yet it was answered?

tendermercym❤️ments~jld

“How have you noticed Heavenly Father’s awareness and mindfulness of you today?”

*If you would like to receive an email when new posts are published, please send your name and email address to tendermercymoments@gmail.com.*

Clarity

I experienced a spiritual trial I never thought I would ever experience. For over two decades I had been going to a place, a physical place, a beautiful place where I felt joy, happiness, and peace. When I heard of changes that had taken place there, I felt anxiety, fear, and doubt. I was uncertain if and how the changes would affect and impact me. I distanced myself completely away from what had been a good thing for me for so long and lost all zest in going back. 

I kept my feelings and emotions inside until one day I was asked by someone if I would go there with them. My feelings and emotions came to the surface. Speaking out loud helped me work through and process the depth of my anxiety, fear, and doubts. It was a tender mercy when the opportunity to speak to my trepidation presented itself. As I opened up and was vulnerable in sharing my concerns, the underlying reason and cause that I had blocked, came out. Through speaking to it out loud, I felt a comfort being able to get to the core of my worries.

Soon after, although acting on an inspired prompting to go back, I felt an uneasiness and nervousness. As I spent time at this beautiful place, even with the changes that had occurred, it was still a good place and I was able to feel the same joy, happiness, and peace. Throughout the crisis, I never lost my faith in what I believed and in what I knew. A quote I really like by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf is, “Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith.” Fear held me back and talking about it out loud brought me forward, to continue appreciating what I had enjoyed over the course of so many years.

When have you lost a zeal and zest for something that used to mean a lot to you because of a change that left you “in the dark” and talking through and processing out loud your deep core worries, you were comforted and able to return back to what you once loved doing? 

tendermercym❤️ments~jld

“How have you noticed Heavenly Father’s awareness and mindfulness of you today?”

*If you would like to receive an email when new posts are published, please send your name and email address to tendermercymoments@gmail.com.*

Hidden Gem

I knew I hadn’t eaten all the mini cheesecakes a wonderful friend had given me this summer. I wanted them to last as long as possible and to be able to enjoy them over a long period of time, I froze them. One day as I went to get one, I could not find them. I pictured the number of remaining ones. I was certain I still had some.

After looking and looking, I resigned to the fact that because they were so good perhaps they were enjoyed by other family members too. After all, sharing is caring, right? And, if I kept them all to myself, that wouldn’t be right, right? I told myself this so I could better accept if they were truly gone.

Amazingly, one evening when pulling out a bag from the freezer to begin making dinner, tucked away in the very back, I still had some left!! Happiness! Joy! I was excited and looked forward to eating a couple of the tasty cheesecakes after defrosting them. Yum! Yum!

When have you been excited about finding something you valued and treasured that had been tucked away, lost and then found?

tendermercym♥ments~jld

“How have you noticed Heavenly Father’s awareness and mindfulness of you today?”

Be Still

As our kids returned to school after summer break, I knew I would have “mom homework” the first few days. In addition to completing the necessary paperwork for each of them, I had a lot of other worries, concerns, and questions weighing on my mind. During this time, I set aside what I would normally do each day that was spiritually uplifting for me. By midweek, I felt drained. I decided it was a good idea to take a break to find and listen to an inspiring message that would give me a much needed boost.

As I scrolled through a couple weeks of inspirational messages on Hi Five Live, there was one message that stood out to me, however, I was not drawn to it. I skipped over it a number of times, yet felt I should go back and listen to it. Eventually I did. In the message, I remember nothing of what was shared other than the words, “you need to go to the temple” enter my mind. That day came and went. Then the next day came, and into the evening I was reminded that I needed to go to the temple. I made the decision and mentally prepared that night that I would go the next day.

Bright and early, following family prayer, I looked at the temple schedule on our fridge and noticed the temple was not open in the morning during the timeframe I had intended to go. I changed my plans and decided I would do family history work instead to further seek to find something about my husband’s great grandfather several grandfather’s back. I then went on my way to taking my kids to school.

As I pulled into my driveway upon returning home, I received the impression again that I needed to go to the temple. Immediately, I remembered the Bishop of our congregation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints share a couple weeks earlier that more sessions for temple ordinance work had opened up. Right away, while still sitting in my car, I called the temple. I was not the least bit surprised that someone picked up. Although it was last minute, I was able to attend the final Endowment session of the morning. Throughout the session, I listened and waited for a powerful answer I was anticipating I’d receive from Heavenly Father. As I finished the ordinance and I sat in the Celestial room knowing I was to be in the temple, on that day, at that time, I continued to wait. As time passed and patrons began leaving, the room became quiet and still. It was through the quietness and stillness of the room that the message I needed to hear became known. It was, “Be Still”.

As I shared the details of my experience to my husband, he mentioned a phrase I’ve heard many times, “Be Still And Know That I Am God”. The words impacted me tremendously. This answer was applicable to every worry, concern, and question I had. Heavenly Father knew what I needed. I am grateful for the knowledge I have that He is aware of me and loves me and through a number of invitations, I was blessed as Heavenly Father lead and guided me to the temple, a place of peace, to hear the words, “Be Still”.

When have you been guided and led to a place where you have received an answer(s) to questions, concerns, and worries on your mind?

tendermercym♥ments~jld

“How have you noticed Heavenly Father’s awareness and mindfulness of you today?”

To receive an email when new posts are published, please send your email address to tendermercymoments@gmail.com

It’s Not Too Late

While I was out and about running errands, I saw that my phone had a very low battery. I would notice it in the store and then I would forget about it when I got out to the car. Time and again, I’d remember just minutes before arriving to the next location. Initially, my thought was,“what’s the point if I only have two minutes or at the longest 10 minutes to charge my phone.” Then I thought, “even if I can only get 1%, 2%, or 5% in a short period of time then it’s not too late—something is better than nothing at all.” The smallest increase was valuable to me to not lose connection with my husband and children while I was out and about.

When have you questioned if a supposedly insignificant action was worth it, and your effort resulted in a better outcome than not trying at all?

tendermercym♥ments~jld