A Back-up Plan To The Rescue

Fortunately, a back-up plan to the rescue did not preclude the mammogram screening from happening within the specific window that was best for me.

A strategic process that has gone smoothly every other previous mammogram screening I’ve gone in for was almost disrupted. Fortunately, a back-up plan to the rescue did not preclude it from happening within the specific window that was best for me. 

This is one of those appointments that I do not schedule out in advance due to not knowing exactly where my body will be in relationship to my menstrual cycle. It was a tender mercy that the imaging center accepted walk-in visits. And, where deodorants and lotions interfere with the testing and applying lotion is a necessity for my dry skin, being able to spontaneously decide the day of for when it was most optimal for me to shower and skip the lotion around my chest area and hold off on the deodorant till after the screening was a tender mercy. 

Upon arriving at the imaging center for the routine annual health mammogram screening, while in the parking lot, it was a tender mercy I was impressed to contact my insurance company to confirm if the imaging center was still in-network this year as it had been last year even though their office location had recently changed. Initially, because the new address was not showing up when the insurance representative looked it up, the center was considered out-of-network. However, it was a tender mercy the insurance representative reached out to the imaging center and learned that they would be billing from their previous address until their new address was updated with the insurance company. Based on that, the insurance representative was able to confirm that the imaging center was still in-network and the visit and screening would be covered in-network. 

Once inside the office, I was informed that the internet service had just gone down 20 minutes prior to my arrival and they would not be able to check me in. Oh no! Of all days, on the day and during the time most ideal for me when I was prepped and ready! The options I had was to wait until the service came back up whenever that may be or return home and wait until I got the call that it was back up again to return for the screening. I opted to wait. 

Within a few minutes, it was a tender mercy the front desk staff member had an ingenious idea, a back-up plan to the rescue. I was asked if I had been to their office before or if I was there for the first time. Where I was a walk-in, it was assumed I was coming in for the first time. Upon my responding that I had been to their prior location a year ago, they contacted one of their other offices that was not impacted by the outage. Since my information was already in the computer system, they were able to check me in, complete the screening, and once the service was back up, they were able to upload my mammogram images to my information in the computer. It was a tender mercy that due to the employee’s back-up plan to the rescue I was able to get the screening done during the most ideal time for me.  

When have you been prepped and ready for something that was almost put on hold and a back-up plan to the rescue did not preclude it from happening during your most optimal timeframe?

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.

Letting Up On My Self-Induced Stringent Schedule

In letting up on my self-induced stringent schedule, I experienced a peace I did not know I would feel.

Over the last several months, normalcy of life has changed. Even so, as I stuck to my same ongoing rigid schedule by when I have wanted a very specific daily task completed, I began to feel constrained and limited from what more I could be doing during the day. A focus on this task set for the same time each evening weighed heavily on my mind until I realized it was not necessary to continue to keep that time fixed so tightly. In letting up on my self-induced stringent schedule, I experienced a peace I did not know I would feel.

This set schedule originated as a result of my many hours spent carpooling, running errands, and attending meetings throughout the day while my kids were at school and being unable to complete the task any sooner. Yet, wanting it completed before our family returned home from school and work, I designated a certain time that was the same each day in the early evening by when to have it done.

When the stay-at-home order due to COVID-19 went into effect and my kids began distance learning from home, even though my activities outside of the home decreased substantially and my day was now not as filled up in the same way, I continued to maintain the same designated time for to complete the specific daily task. In doing so, I began to feel a heaviness weighing on me over the course of the day as I was constantly thinking about this daily action item I still had left to do. It was a tender mercy I realized I was placing this enormous weight and strain on myself unnecessarily and putting off for later what I now had time to complete sooner. 

As I let up on my self-induced stringent schedule and took care of the task at whatever time it worked to do so rather than wait for the designated time set by me, it freed up my day tremendously. I have felt lighter, more joyful and productive with the openness of what more I have thus been able to do each day. 

This moment brought me back to 24 years ago and reflecting on a set schedule I had in regards to marriage. 

Due to my parent’s marriage ending in divorce while I was in college, I was not anxious to get married very quickly as statistically the odds increased of my marriage ending the same way. I set a parameter for myself, which made logic sense at the time, that I had to date a potential spouse for at least nine months before even considering marriage. I felt that would be adequate amount of time to really get to know someone. Because I did not want the same thing as divorce to happen in my marriage, I was on the lookout for very specific red flags while dating.  

Within the first month of my husband and I dating, I had a couple of spiritual experiences regarding marriage for which I pushed aside and ignored because my plan was not to marry someone I had not known well enough within the timeframe I concluded was ideal. When he proposed to me six weeks after we met, I then understood why I had received the spiritual experiences when I did. It was to prepare me for a different plan than what I had set for myself. In fact, hours before he proposed, he was standing behind me in my college apartment while I was nonchalantly flipping through the pages of a bridal magazine on the living room coffee table having no interest and desire of getting married anytime soon. 

Upon him asking me to marry him a few hours after that moment, I reflected on those spiritual experiences and I said yes. We were married 6 months to the date after we met. Although the length of time from our first meeting one another to courtship to proposal to marriage was short, I knew that the timing of our marriage was right. We have been married almost 24 years now and all throughout as the bumps and hardships have come and gone amidst scores of bliss, I have continued time and again to feel the same peace and know that the timing for us was right. 

When have you let up on a stringent schedule you set for yourself and you felt a peace in doing so as well as it opened up wonderful opportunities for you?

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.

All Squared Away Just In Time

Preliminary processes for a particular procedure were all squared away just in time before circumstances potentially postponed it until a much later date.

As the coronavirus pandemic has quickly altered the course of day-to-day living and many calendared events have been put on hold, it was a tender mercy I was able to finalize and get plans for a particular treatment that would take place incrementally over many months all squared away just in time prior to the office possibly closing their doors for, at the least, a couple of weeks.  

At the beginning of the month, before the coronavirus outbreak, I scheduled a free consultation to go over the details of the treatment. The appointment was set for a Friday morning just over a couple of weeks away. With the rapid progression of the virus, two days prior to the appointment, I called the office questioning whether or not the schedule would hold and they confirmed the appointment.  

The day before the appointment, I happened to be speaking with someone in an optometrist office and learned from them that starting on Monday they would sadly be closing their doors for two weeks as per CDC and local government recommendations and that others with like health practices were encouraged to do the same. Hearing this news and information was a tender mercy as it prepared me to be more deliberate in my decision that would come into play the next day. 

Upon arriving at the appointment, I was surprised when I was stopped as soon as I opened the door and understandably required to have my temperature taken before being allowed to fully come inside the office. Though spring allergies were in full bloom and I was experiencing the impact, it was a tender mercy I did not have a temperature and was permitted to proceed with the appointment. In the office’s attempt to maintain a healthy environment for all their patients, the waiting room was empty as appointments were spread out to conform to social distancing practices.  

At the completion of the consultation, I approved the treatment layout and was ready for it to begin. Before making a final decision on one specific payment plan, I wanted to confer with my husband first, however, he was on a business call at work and unable to be reached. 

With the office closing mid-afternoon, just over an hour away and no guarantee they would be open for sure Monday morning, I wanted to have the payment and preliminary processes taken care of before leaving so treatment could begin as soon as possible rather than delayed for sometime later on down the road. 

It was a tender mercy I was able to touch base with my husband within minutes and everything that was essential to get the ball rolling was all squared away just in time before the office closed for the day and prior to their possibly closing their doors for, at the least, a couple of weeks.

When have you come to know ahead of time about a possible delay in a procedure you preferred to have taken place sooner rather than later and you were able to get what needed to be done all squared away just in time prior to its potential postponement?

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.

Naturally Awakening

As sleep deprivation and exhaustion set in after rising early in the morning following a night of not getting much sleep, I was in need of a nap prior to attending a meeting. Although I set my alarm clock, I realized when I woke up on my own that I had set it incorrectly. It was a tender mercy that although my alarm clock did not go off at the time I meant for it to ring, my body naturally woke up just in time to make the meeting and not miss it. 

When have you promptly woken up naturally on your own and not missed attending a planned event after having set your alarm clock wrong and it not going off at the time you had intended?

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.*