Upon The Aftermath, It Made Sense

It was a tender mercy that upon the aftermath, it made sense not only why I had received the impression so as to jumpstart the release of the toxin from my body, but also that I had indeed received an impression.

After I returned home from a dinner out and prior to the close of the evening, I had a sweet tooth and craved chocolate. In that moment, I received the impression to drink lemon water instead, but opted against the lemon water and went for a piece of chocolate, a packet of applesauce, nuts, and water. An unforeseen side effect of what I may have been exposed to while eating dinner showed up hours later. Upon the aftermath, it made sense why I had received the impression to drink lemon water. 

Several years back while on a trip to a touristy destination, I did a lot of walking all throughout the area and ate yummy seafood sandwiches. Following the trip, I felt an internal heat penetrating my upper thighs. I thought it was attributed to all the walking I had done. However, I learned it was an allergic reaction to the seafood I had eaten. 

Because the onset of the reaction was not sudden, I was not aware of the cause until later. Much like working out and your muscles don’t feel sore immediately, then sometime later when you feel soreness, you may wonder why and realize it was from working out.

It was weeks before the burning, inflamed sensation let up and the toxin from the bottom feeder fish I had eaten completely exited my body. This allergic reaction was confirmed when I returned to the location less than a year later. After again enjoying the seafood, I experienced the burning sensation in my upper thighs once more for weeks.

At the time I craved the chocolate, I felt fine. Little did I know the significance of the impression to drink lemon water. The evening of eating out proceeded a 24 hour fast and I wanted to savor and enjoy a sweet treat and some sustainable food beforehand. As eating chocolate and lemon water together is counter productive, the either or choice went to my craving and not to the prompting I had received. The next day, the burning sensation in my legs began and I quickly understood. Upon the aftermath, it made sense why I had received the impression to drink lemon water. 

After backtracking to assess and try to figure out the source of the burning in my legs, it was a tender mercy I recalled the years earlier when I had the same sensation occur and concluded that though my meal was a non-seafood dish, it was probable that a trace amount of fish cooked and served to other patrons may have gotten into my food too. Per my experience on prior occasions, a successful means of clearing out toxins from my body had been drinking water with a quarter freshly squeezed lemon combined with pure cranberry juice.  

Though, from the get-go, I disregarded the impression to drink the lemon water and acted rather on my craving, it was a tender mercy that upon the aftermath, it made sense not only why I had received the impression so as to jumpstart the release of the toxin from my body, but also that I had indeed received an impression. Within a couple of days of drinking warm, honey lemon water first thing in the morning, it was a tender mercy the burning sensation became mild to hardly present and as I continued to then drink lemon water with pure cranberry juice daily for breakfast, the burning sensation gradually and eventually subsided. 

When have you had an upon the aftermath, it made sense experience in which you not only understood the why you received a particular impression to act, but that it also confirmed you had indeed received an impression?

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.

Matter Of Fact Plan Of Action

When plans changed unexpectedly, I did not skip a beat as a revised matter of fact plan of action transpired.

When my original plan for getting our kids to school changed unexpectedly, I did not skip a beat as a revised matter of fact plan of action transpired. 

On this winter morning, once we were all in the car ready to go, I started it up and noticed the tire pressure light was on. At first, I assumed the light was indicating a decrease in tire pressure attributed to the cold 37 degree weather, but as I recalled a prior tire incident, I immediately felt inclined to walk around the car and quickly glance at each of the tires before driving away. 

In doing so, I saw that one of the back tires appeared low. While accessing the condition of the tire, it was a tender mercy that right at that time, my husband had just stepped out of the house to leave for work and observed what I was doing. He came over immediately to assist. As I knew I would not be able to go directly to a shop to get the tire repaired before getting my kids to school on time, right away, I knew what to do. I decisively and proactively, without hesitation, went into Plan B action mode. 

While my husband was using an air compressor to add air to the tire, I shared with him my matter of fact plan of action to take our younger kids to school in the car used by our teenage drivers who were not using it at the time. It was a tender mercy the car was available as a backup and the worries I would have had about the possibility of the low tire going flat at any point during the approximate one and a half hour roundtrip commute was alleviated. And, as there was a concern on this very cold day whether the heater in the backup car worked, it was a tender mercy it did and we were warmed up fairly quickly. 

Though I had plans to take our car in to have the tire repaired preceding a scheduled meeting I would be facilitating not long after returning home from dropping off our kids, after calling the shop and learning of the lengthy wait time, due to the tight time constraint, I once again moved forward with a revised matter of fact plan of action to instead go to the shop following my meeting and before picking up our kids from school. 

By that time, it was then early afternoon and over the course of several hours since my husband had added air to the tire, the tire pressure had dropped from 35 psi to close to 15 psi. Although I was quite nervous about the slow leak causing the psi to drop so significantly and worried if the low tire pressure would hold up long enough to get to the shop 20 minutes away, it was a tender mercy the tire was not yet altogether flat. 

In hopes of being able to make it to the shop without getting a flat, I attempted to fill up the tire using the air compressor, but I didn’t know how to use it and when I looked up a YouTube video for a demonstration, it wasn’t any help either. So, I placed the air compressor and an extension cord in the trunk of my car and prayed and prayed and prayed that first and foremost I would make it all the way to the shop without losing anymore air. And secondly, if I did lose more air, I was prepared and prayerful that someone along the way would be able to help me.

Before leaving our home, I examined the tire once again and saw where a heavy duty nail of sorts had become lodged in the tire. Despite my naivety of how physics works, I was hopeful and optimistic that as the tire rotated around and around while in route to the shop, the pressure on the nail as it butted up against the pavement over and over again would lock and seal any air from escaping till I got to the tire shop. 

Along the way, although I felt anxious, I tried really hard to keep my mind focused on trusting in the Lord and staying relaxed. It was a wonderful tender mercy that not only did I make it safely to the shop without getting a flat tire, it was super amazing where now that I only had 1 hour before I would need to leave to pick up my kids from school that a garage bay was open and available when I arrived and I was able to pull right in before several other customers came in following behind me and my tire, which was discovered to have also had a screw in it too, was fixed right away for a very minimal charge. 

All in all, it was a tender mercy that before leaving home to take our kids to school, I became aware of the tire that was low before it became a full-fledged flat tire.

When have you had an experience to which you became aware of a situation before it resulted in something more so problematic? And, when have you had plans change unexpectedly and you were able to proactively with decisiveness move instantaneously forward with a revised matter of fact plan of action? 

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.

Alert And Attentive

I had a remarkable experience on this bright and sunny, 100 degree day that involved several tender mercies that culminated into one big miracle.   

While my children and I were driving a relative distance from home to take one of them to EFY also known as Especially For Youth, we had hopes that we would get to the campus location within the check-in time frame. A third of the way there I recognized on my dash the tire light had come on and I felt a need to stop and check the air pressure in each of my tires. 

Ironically, the day prior as I came out of church I had a fleeting and subtle thought to check them, yet it came and went without a second thought and I did not act on it. Just looking at the tires, they appeared fine, however, in using a tire-pressure gauge, one of the tires only had a 20 psi reading so I knew there was a slow leak. When I examined the tire, I found a nail puncture in the tread.   

As I processed my options and what to do in my situation, not knowing with certainty how I should precede forward, the idea came to my mind to 1) place duct tape over the nail puncture, 2) pray and have faith that we would make it the latter 2/3rds of the way up to EFY safely, and 3) seek help to change out the tire once we got to our destination. I shared my plan with Heavenly Father and asked that if it was not ideal to continue in that manner that I be guided otherwise. 

Simultaneously, I was thinking about a scriptural account I had just recently read in the Book of Mormon of the brother of Jared who presented stones to the Lord that became a light source for the Jaredites as they traveled in barges to the Promised Land. I believed the duct tape would prevent the tire from going completely flat.  

It was an incredible tender mercy that although we did not have any duct tape in our car, we had clear packing tape that I used and the adhesive stuck well. As we were ready to get back on the road, it was another tender mercy when I was impressed to call my husband to which he recommended I stop at the nearest gas station to fill the tire up with air. 

Immediately, I went into laser focus mode and actively kept an eye out for any place that had an air pump and this prepared me to not miss and pass up an ideal stop a short distance up ahead that wasn’t available again along our route for another 50+miles.

Within minutes, it was a remarkable tender mercy that 4 mile markers or so further up the road there was a car dealership that serviced our specific car’s make. Amazing! I was immensely grateful for the convenience, ease, cost-effectiveness, and timeliness of the dealership being in our path. A technician filled up the tire at no cost, exceeding slightly the recommended amount, and then advised that I stop and look for a place to keep it filled up if the tire light came back on again, which it never did.  

Upon our arrival at the campus location, it was a miraculous tender mercy that the packing tape was still intact and the air pressure held steady overall, with a loss of only 2 psi, but still resting above the recommended amount and it continued to hold steady the rest of the day. Before our departure home, I went to a nearby dealership, like the one earlier, and the small amount lost was restored.

Throughout our entire drive back home, the air pressure stayed constant even after the tape had melted away from the scorching hot pavement. And, with a reapplication of the packing tape, the air pressure continued to remain steady still into the late afternoon of the next day when I was able to get our car into the shop to have the tire repaired and patched up. 

My prayer was more than answered. We not only made it safely round trip, it was also not dire for me to have had the tire fixed while on the road or swapped out with a spare prior to our return home.   

When have you experienced car troubles while driving and not knowing exactly what to do, your move to action on your first thoughts, prayer and faith, in addition, following sound recommendations and advice from others helped you get to your destination safely as well as to a place to have your car repaired?

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.*

Cake Carrier

Once the 8×8 cake one of my children had baked late at night for a school project, due the following day, cooled and prior to flipping it out of the glass pan onto another surface to then decorate it with the required details, the question became what to transfer it onto to be able to transport it without messing up the design. 

As I was contemplating the use of a cardboard box with sides used to hold water bottles and lining it with aluminum foil and then crumbling up additional foil to fill in any gaps to eliminate sliding, it dawned on me we had an 8×8 plastic container, with a lid, full of brownie bites. 

It was a tender mercy that I had recalled the package of brownie bites I had purchased days earlier for an event. I transferred the mini brownies to a gallon sized ziploc freezer bag and voila we now had a great way to secure and best support the cake, keeping the decorations from shifting outside of their designated and specific locations, as well as cover it and the cake fit perfectly in the container.

When have you wanted to deliver an item(s) from one place to another snugly and you recalled having a bin, container, envelope, etc. on hand that was a perfect fit?

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.*

Downsizing My Everyday Purse

When, spur-of-the-moment, our family was offered NBA basketball tickets for a game in our city a few hours later, my husband and I gladly accepted them. Normally, I would be reluctant to go anywhere near downtown due to intense levels of anxiety I experience traveling in highly congested areas, but, surprisingly, I felt minimal stress on this particular night. 

Just minutes before walking out the door, I recollected a restriction on the allowed size hand bag that could be brought inside from having attended an event at this arena and another sports arena several months back. I quickly switched out my “mommy” purse for a smaller purse. Upon arrival at the game, I observed a fellow walking back towards the parking lot with a purse in hand. It was a tender mercy I recalled the bag size limitation. I was grateful to have not been in a similar assumed predicament experiencing the inconvenience of walking a distance back to my car to drop off my purse. It was also a tender mercy that on this evening, traffic was light and parking was a breeze. 

When has an inconvenience while out not occurred as you recollected something of importance last minute before leaving your house? And, when have you appreciated moments your anxiety in high stress situations was less than you anticipated?

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.*