Category: Nature

Solo Week

For the first time in almost 23 years of marriage and 21 years of being a mom, I recently had an entire week to myself. Initially, I had no idea at all what I would do with my time alone for this was a new experience for me. I was concerned that I would be twiddling my thumbs, but the blankness of not knowing what I would do did not last long. 

It was a tender mercy that one idea after another began flooding my mind from people I could reach out to, projects I could work on, and places I could visit. My week filled up before it began. The ideas did not remain ideas, they became what I went for and accomplished. It was incredible the flow and line up of when the activities occurred from one day to the next. 

My schedule was well-balanced and organized and I felt productive. I attended an out-of-town festival, prepared for an upcoming baby shower, went to church, enjoyed walks, reached out and visited friends, participated in a personal development group, stepped out of my comfort zone to attend a social gathering with multiple families, took a mini day trip to a tourist destination, attended a parenting class, ran family errands, performed ordinance work in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint temple, prepared a lesson for my primary class at church, and worked on my blog. It was a marvelous week of doing what I love and enjoy and having the courage to go out and explore new things on my own.  

When have you had time all to yourself and just when you had no idea what you would do with your alone time, ideas flooded your mind and as you acted on those ideas you felt accomplished and a greater sense of self?

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.*

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.*

Remained Intact

After a fairly recent hailstorm, many homes in our neighborhood received sufficient enough damage to their roofs to warrant a total replacement of shingles. As contractors were scraping off and removing the old shingles from our neighbor’s home, I was concerned when the debris fell into our yard and on top of our grapevines. Since planting the grapevines a few years ago, this would be our first year harvesting them and we’ve been looking forward to enjoying our homegrown grapes. It was a tender mercy when a single shingle landed directly on top of the grapevine canopy and the clusters of grapes weren’t impacted and remained intact.

When has your home, vehicle, garden, fruit vines, trees, or other possessions on your property survived a very near casualty?

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.*

Pushing Through

Between an unusually stormy and wet spring along with mold, pollen, and ragweed allergies, I had become very sedentary, spending more time indoors for several weeks not expending a lot of energy sufficient to be considered real exercise. After one beautiful, sunny weekend, my friend and I tentatively planned a day later in the week to go walking. As the day drew nearer, it appeared possible we would need to reschedule when in the early morning hours of the night it had rained intensely. Although the forecast showed rain expected to continue throughout the day, it cleared a few hours before we were scheduled to meet up. 

Even though I was ready to enjoy the outdoors and I love walking, it had been a long while since I had been physically active. Concerned with my lack of stamina, I saw the iffy weather as an easy way out. In addition, although I was mentally motivated, I didn’t have much vigor so if the day and time had not still worked for my friend, I would have been alright that our plan to walk didn’t pan out. As she was still available and the weather was nice, we stuck with our plan. 

Doing what was good for my body was oh so hard. I was quite sluggish. Even though I was unable to maintain my same typical and natural fast pace, I recognized the health benefit and value pressing forward would be for me.

Being so out of shape, it was a tender mercy that walking with a friend beside me, I was better able to push through the challenge and struggle of what normally would’ve been a really simple and easy walk for me. While walking and talking with each other, going up and down and around several streets in a neighborhood was doable.

When have you tackled an activity that was good for you, but extremely challenging and the struggle was more manageable with a friend together by your side?

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.*

Growth Beyond The Freeze


Growing season has begun. Spring is right around the corner. Less than a week after our family planted a flower garden and vegetable garden during our Family Home Evening, we experienced the coldest night of winter. I don’t regularly check the weather day to day so it was a tender mercy our family happened to be watching the news and saw the weather report the first evening of the cold front. When we heard the heads up of the cold front approaching, my husband covered our plants. A few days later, I noticed the seedlings coming up and assumed that in addition to having covered them, they were also protected while still in the dirt and not yet exposed above ground. Timing was perfect that they didn’t poke through too soon. It was a tender mercy that the plants were still growing even after some very cold days and nights.

When have you protected your flower garden/vegetable garden/plants in time from a winter freeze and they survived the cold front?

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.*

Overflowing Abundance Of Blessings

I met up with my youngest child and his school class today to tour a cavern. I was grateful for simple directions to the location. It was a tender mercy I did not get lost or turned around. How many times do you rely on GPS for directions and you find yourself in a completely different place than where you intended?  I’ve had that happen to me time and time again. Today, I was grateful that was not the case. I had a little bit of familiarity with where I was in the beginning to navigate with more confidence in myself than in GPS, and then I relied and trusted in the correctness and assistance of GPS the rest of the way.

It was a beautiful, scenic drive along a route with little traffic and my steering wheel had no pulling and tightness. I am not a fan of congestion or traffic and so the smoothness and easy flow of the drive was a tender mercy! My steering wheel for the past couple weeks has, on and off, tightened while turning. This morning, it happened briefly; but the entire drive to the cavern and back, it was a tender mercy there were no issues.

Preceding the approximate 45 minute drive, one hour before leaving, my right leg was acting up and was very restless. When I experience this discomfort, napping relieves it. After I dropped my children off at their respective schools, it was a tender mercy I had time to take a nap, resting my body before making the drive and I had no further problems with my leg.

And, it was a tender mercy there was a discount on the ticket price for school chaperones! I was happy for the discount. It was still pricey, but less, by several dollars, than an otherwise very expensive entrance fee ticket to the cavern.

A highlight of the field trip was the tender mercy of being able to spend time with my son at the cavern, particularly right now as he enjoys having me join him on his field trips. It was a fun and memorable experience with him!  He was very loving, kind, and considerate of me. He alerted me and kept me safe from bumping my head while passing through a tight place. He saved me a seat on a bench a couple of times in areas where we could sit down and listen to the tour guide rather than remain standing. He saved me a place next to him at a picnic table with his friends at lunch time. He expressed and showed his love for me throughout the tour and gave me hugs. I am grateful I was able to join him and share this special time together.

I had been to this cavern two years earlier with one of my other children. I wasn’t thrilled about returning with the mindset, “been there, done that”, but I wanted to be with my youngest and have the experience of being with him. In the end, I enjoyed very much the tour and was grateful I had returned as there was a lot I had forgotten. It was a fabulous afternoon, even if a bit cold and windy. The time with my youngest was valuable and priceless and worth the pricey ticket to revisit the cavern with him.

Yesterday, I was experiencing a lot of doubt, fear, and concerns and it was a tender mercy those doubts, fears, and concerns were lifted on my way home as I chose to listen to a CD, “Say Love” by my favorite music artist, Hilary Weeks. Her music spoke to my heart and provided a strength I was lacking yesterday. Today, I felt the Spirit and a renewed calm and peace.

It was all in all a very pleasant drive to and from the cavern and an all-around very good day with multiple tender mercies and I am truly grateful!

Do you have days that are complete flops and you feel depleted, lacking energy, strength, and stamina and then you receive an overflowing of blessings that give you renewed faith and courage to face life’s challenges? How do you work through those difficult times? I tell myself to put one foot in front of the other and keep taking baby steps forward, one step at a time, even if it is a shuffle and I can barely pick my feet up. As I serve myself (like brushing my teeth), and others (making a simple family meal heating up a can of soup), I am actively doing something to keep myself afloat. What do you do to keep yourself up and going between those not so good and good days?

I am grateful for the knowledge that each day is a new day and there is “light at the end of the tunnel”. The amount of time in darkness may be unknown, but the light will come if I keep moving forward. It is this knowledge I have preceding the hard times and a hope I hang onto during really hard times that helps me get through the bleakest of moments. If I did not already have that belief prior to the challenges, getting through the challenges would be even harder.

tendermercym♥ments~jld

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

Sabbath Day

I enjoy and look forward to the Sabbath day. For me, it is a time of rejuvenation and a tender mercy to have an entire day set aside to connect with Heavenly Father in a more deliberate way. Focusing on specific ways of feeling closer to Him and the peace that is felt away from the hustle and bustle of everyday activities. I enjoy attending church, listening to and hearing the messages, feeling the Spirit, receiving answers to prayers and validation of His love and care for me.

I enjoy afternoon naps, taking walks, transcribing my son’s missionary letters and emailing them to friends and family. I enjoy the relaxation of cooking and making a new recipe without a time constraint or need to pick up kids or go to appointments. These are all things that I do on the Sabbath day that is calming and relaxing as well as drawing closer to my Savior and Heavenly Father and feeling of their love for me. What do you do on the Sabbath day?

I love that it is a day of rest, a day that I’m not doing chores and mundane tasks like laundry, grocery shopping, yard work and that I can fully take in with gratitude and appreciation what I have through moments of pondering and absorbing the beauty around me.

Is the Sabbath day a day of rest for you? Is it a day you look forward to each week? When and how have you felt Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ’s love for you?

tendermercym♥ments~jld

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