Category: Timing

First Things First

As I was taking one of my children to school, it was pressing on my mind to speak with them about something of concern that occurred days earlier in our community. However, as much as I wanted to talk about it and hear their thoughts, I could see they were studying for a couple of class exams. 

At that moment, it was a tender mercy that back to back I not only recalled and reflected on a specific instance I felt an appreciation when I was not disrupted and broken away from something that was important to me when I was a student like them, I also heard the still small voice whisper, “not now, it can wait”.

The recollection of how much I valued the time and space given to me and wanting to give the same to my child and also having received the gentle impression helped me make the decision to hold off the dialogue for a later, more appropriate, time. As I considered the impact my conversation may have had on them and how it may have effected how they went into the exam, I felt that what was best then was for them to focus and concentrate on their efforts and desire to do well.   

The better time came after school on the way home after the weight, stress, and pressure of studying and testing was behind them and their time and mental energy was not split among two very different and significant matters, but the focus was on one crucial item at a time.

When has a remembrance of an impactful personal experience and a soft impression guided you to when and how to share a pressing matter of yours with someone else? 

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.*

Winter Driving

Nineteen years ago, while returning home after spending time with extended family for Christmas, our small young family of three slid off the road moments after we switched drivers with me then behind the wheel. After twice maintaining control when driving on black ice, the 3d time the car spun around and slid backwards 400 feet down an interstate embankment and turned around feet before going into a forest of trees. 

Since that time, I’ve declined invitations year after year during the holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas, to travel to visit family that live where those conditions are a real possibility. 

This year, after all that time, we ventured out driving hours during Christmas break to vacation and visit some cold and snowy places. I prepared our family and packed for the worst case scenario extreme weather conditions. Experience had taught me to be prepared. We had food, water, layers of clothing, blankets, and snow gear in the event we were caught in a blizzard or the weather delayed us for a time. I also periodically checked the weather pattern days leading up to and throughout our trip.  Any worries and concerns were lessened as I felt prepared and gained a peace through prayer.

I was extremely appreciative of the tender mercy and miracle that the scariest of moments when driving in the dark on wet, icy roads were brief and that we were able to get to and from every destination during our weeklong trip absent of severe weather. For most of our trip, the roads were dry and at times, the gusty winds and snow drifts blowing low along the highway were manageable. 

On Day 2, our schedule was delayed a couple of hours ultimately the perfect timing as we arrived in a city where it had been snowing all day, the snow let up before we got there and with the interstate having been salted, the road was clear other than side streets that were packed down with crunchy, icy snow. And, the day we began our trip back home was hours ahead of a new snow storm coming through. It was a tender mercy and miracle that we were able to enjoy our trip void of the snowstorm that preceded our arrival to one city earlier in the week and a new snowstorm in a city we were leaving at the end of the week.

My continuous prayers for our safety and good weather weeks prior to the trip and during were answered. 

When have you returned to a place of fear and as you prepared yourself and prayed that you would not experience a repeat of the traumatic event, you got through it safely with conditions of concern at a minimum? 

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.*

Holiday Lights In The Park

When our kids were younger, we had, at one point, season passes to a roller coaster park near our home and subsequent years following an opportunity annually to attend twice during the year. Although we enjoyed going very much, we have not returned for a few years when the opportunity went away and as our children have gotten older and other activities and expenses have taken priority.

When we had extended family, who had season passes to the park, stop in for the holidays, they invited us to join them to experience the holiday lights and rides in the park altogether. We declined as the cost was outside of our budget. When they shared that on that day each member of their family had a “Bring a Friend Free” day pass for each member of our family, we happily accepted the invite. As they desired us to join them and we have missed not being back to the park for quite awhile, it was a tender mercy the special was being offered on the very day they were in town visiting. It was a delight to be in the park once again and it was a joyful experience to be with family!  

When have you missed attending a special place due to a lack of funds and you were delighted when you received an invite and free pass to return?

tendermercym❤️ments~jld

“How have 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.*

System Is Down

With a little less than a week remaining before Christmas and our kids still in school a few more days prior to Winter break beginning, there were so many stores I still wanted to go to for last minute Christmas presents. On this day, my goal was to be in and out of each store as quickly as possible. I was on a mission. I knew exactly what gifts I was looking to buy. It was just a matter of which store carried them. 

At one of the earlier stores I entered, I walked briskly from one end to the other quickly gathering up in my arms the presents. When I reached the register to check out, there was a line forming and growing longer and longer. I was several shoppers back when it was announced that the system for all registers throughout the store had shut down. In that moment, the line stopped moving for awhile. Over the span of about 45 minutes, the system went back up briefly and shut down again after only one person was partially through checkout and this repeated over again a number of times. 

As this happened near the lunch hour, I still had a few hours before my kids were out of school. It wasn’t urgent for me to visit other stores and because I didn’t have anywhere else I absolutely needed to be, I felt relaxed. It was a tender mercy I arrived with plenty of time to not be up against the clock and the delay resulting in me slowing down for a brief period was a good thing. It was nice taking an unexpected break to read messages on my phone and soak in the quite calm I was experiencing opposite the hustle and bustle of the season. It was also a tender mercy that where I was standing in line to wait, there was a shelf on one side of me and a clothes rack close by on my other side where I could set the gifts down resting my arms, shoulders, and back from the heaviness of the weight of the articles I was holding. On top of that, not only was each item I purchased on sale, it was a tender mercy I was also given an additional 30 percent off at checkout for every single item. 

When have you experienced benefits during an unexpected delay while shopping?

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.*

Worth The Wait


After finishing up some school shopping one-on-one with my daughter, there was a short 30 minutes before I needed to pick up my other kids from there respective locations one after the other. We filled in the time and treated ourselves by ordering lunch “To Go” from a local soup/salad/sandwich & bakery cafe we both enjoy. As we stood in line waiting our turn, I eyed the scrumptious mouthwatering pastries; however, wanting to stay within a budget, we each purchased only a simple meal within my price range. 

Although we were the second name shown on a large screen display in the dining area to get our food, we sat and watched food come out to others and ours was not among them. After what seemed like quite a bit of waiting and our name staying in the same placement, I became worried if I would be able to pick up my other kids on time. I shared my concern regarding the length of time with an employee helping make the food and when I asked how much longer it would be until our order would be ready, I was told they were keeping up with orders for those dining in, coming through drive-thru, and To Go orders. They were very apologetic that ours had not yet been made and offered myself and my daughter a free pastry. Yum! 

Right after we picked out a pastry of our choosing, our order was ready. Not having it in my budget to purchase the bakery item in addition to our meal, it was a tender mercy that due to the delay, we received a delicious free pastry. It was worth the wait. And, we made it just in time to pick up my other kids. 😊

While eating out, when have you resisted purchasing something delicious you really wanted, to stay within a budget and because of a longer than expected wait time or for some other reason, you were offered the tasty treat free of charge? 

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.*

Taking It Easy

The day after Thanksgiving, on Black Friday, we had guests come visit us. Prior to their arrival, I had ideas for festive, holiday community activities we could go and do together. As I began planning and scheduling when to go pick up Santa passes for a specific time later in the day and the arrival and departure times from one activity to the next, I started to feel stressed. And, add to that, not knowing what all they would be up to doing after traveling for several hours to come see us, I decided to not have a scheduled plan and take one moment at a time and go with the flow. Right away, I felt peace and I felt a calm. I didn’t worry about going and picking up the Santa passes or if we even went out at all.

As I changed to this casual approach, it was a tender mercy that the day and the evening went so smoothly. Because I didn’t lock myself into a timed plan and had no expectations, I felt relaxed. We enjoyed ourselves and had so much fun. There was no rush and no hurry to get from one place to the next. We focused on the immediate activity and when that was complete, we collectively decided whether we wanted to go to another activity. It just so happened that by the end of the evening, we did all of the originally planned activities I had wanted to do with them. The difference was that it was more relaxed and less stressful.

With each activity there were tender mercy moments all along the way. When we went bowling, we arrived and all the lanes were full except for two, the two that we needed for our families. We took our time and had fun.

Then we went to the next place. That’s where Santa was as well as Christmas crafts and activities. I didn’t get Santa passes beforehand so I wasn’t expecting that we would see and visit Santa and get pictures with him. As we were walking up to the location, the mother of the family that was with us mentioned wanting to get Santa pictures with her family so we went to the Santa station. Not only was there no line at the Santa station, there were passes available for both of our families 15 minutes later and we were the first in line for that time-slot. It was fantastic! In all the years that we’ve been to this place, we’ve never been able to see Santa with such ease. It was incredible!

We then headed off to dinner. We wanted to go to a place that happened to have a wait time of one hour for seating inside. That day was a warm day relative to the prior couple of weeks of cold weather. It was really really nice outside. We called ahead and asked if there was outdoor seating and they said yes. As soon as we arrived, they had a table ready for us. We went straight to the table and above us were heaters. As the sun set and it got a little cooler, not only did we have a wonderful meal, great food, live music behind us, an amazing location, beautiful scenery, we also had warmth. And, there was a play area for the younger kids to come and go throughout dinner while the older kids and adults were able to sit and talk and enjoy visiting with one another. It was awesome!

After dinner, we all decided we still wanted to go on to another activity and that was seeing Christmas lights. It was a drive-thru Christmas display and I was concerned because we were in two vehicles and their vehicle was larger than ours. I didn’t know if theirs would fit down the narrow passageway and underneath the archway of lights. I tried to call the location, but there was no answer so we took a risk and we went there anyway. When we got there, it all worked out nicely. Their vehicle wasn’t too wide or too high. It was a great way to end the day!

There were so many tender mercies throughout the day. It was great that it went so smoothly. It was a huge tender mercy that the casual approach was a less stressful and more relaxed way to spend our day together!

When have you gone from having a structured plan to going with the flow and your day went so much more smoothly; and miraculously, you accomplished all that you originally wanted to do with less stress?

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.*

Water Softener

After several years of use, our water softener went kaput and stopped working. When we set it out on the street on trash day, it was anticipated that either the recycling truck or the regular garbage truck would take it away; however, that was not the case.

I happened to be sitting in a front room on both occasions when each of the trucks, at different times, came by. When the recycling truck didn’t take it, I wasn’t too concerned and figured the regular garbage truck would take it. When I saw that the regular garbage truck was also going to leave without taking it, I jumped up, ran out of the house, got their attention before they drove off, found out why they were not taking it and what I needed to do to dispose of it.

I learned that because of the weight of the hardened salt still inside, it was too heavy and they were not allowed to lift anything heavy. The option provided was to either take it to the landfill ourselves or remove the salt with a pressure washer and then set the water softener out with the regular trash pickup the next week.

It was a tender mercy I was in the front room at the time and had looked out the window when they pulled up to see that they were about to drive off without taking the water softener. It was also a tender mercy that I was able to get their attention before they drove off considering the one dumping the trash into the truck was wearing ear phones. In addition, I was able to speak with them directly, on the spot to ask them why they were not taking the water softener and what I needed to do to throw it out when otherwise at the end of the day when bringing the trash cans back inside the garage, we would’ve had no idea the reason it was left behind.

When have you put something out in the trash hoping for it to be taken away and when the garbage truck was about to drive off without it, you were present to ask them about it?

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.*

Locked Out

Soon after stepping outside to do some quick yard cleanup, 40 minutes prior to picking up our youngest kids from school, I found myself unable to get back in the house.

The front door had automatically locked behind me and the keypad to get back inside the house was not working. Without my house key and phone on me, I was in a predicament. I went into action right away to find a solution.

Several ideas and options immediately popped into my mind. I first rang the doorbell, not anticipating my daughter who was home at the time would know it was me ringing the doorbell, instead of a solicitor, and open the door. While unsuccessfully finding something small and soft to throw and tap a second story window to get her attention, I stood below it and called out her name. When she looked out the window, I was grateful she heard and saw me and relieved she came to my aid!

Her schedule varies from day to day and it was not only a tender mercy she was home, it was also a tender mercy she was near the window to hear my voice. On top of that, she knew how the front door keypad worked and shared with me what I needed to do in the future. If she had not been home, I would’ve needed to quickly figure out another way, without a phone in hand, for our kids to be picked up from school and had to wait until much later in the evening to get back in the house.

When have you locked yourself out, of your house or car, minutes before you had some place you needed to be and someone was close by to help?

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.*

Close Call

When leaving to take a son to early-morning church seminary (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) while still dark outside, it was foggy with very little visibility to see very far in front of me as I was driving.

After dropping him off and returning back home, I had an impression to slow down, more so than my already driving just under the speed limit. My thoughts turned to the possibilities of what could be ahead in the fog preparing myself in the event that there was another vehicle in front of me or a person crossing the street or walking along side the street. Soon after the thought came and I slowed down, a deer darted in front of my car. I was startled. I was able to move off slightly to the right and avoid any collision.

It was a tender mercy I received the impression and thought when I did to slow down. It protected me and the deer from harm.

When have you had a thought or impression while driving to slow down, stop, or alter your course and it protected you from harm?

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.*

Daylight Saving Time

First thing when I woke up, in my mind I thought through everything I was hoping to do during the day, which included attending a call-in meeting, and I was feeling overwhelmed with the limited hours and a shortage of time to do it all.

At the designated time, I phoned in to the meeting and couldn’t understand why I was not getting in on the call. As I was anticipating the meeting to begin at any moment, I was hearing a recorded message, “the meeting has not yet started”. I continued to wait and wait and wait until a quarter past the hour. It didn’t make sense to me why it was not starting at the scheduled time. A few hours earlier I’d received an email that the meeting would be held at the time I called. Uncertain as to what was going on, I replied back to find out if the meeting would still be taking place.

And then it dawned on me—Daylight Saving Time (DST). It had snuck up on me the day prior and I had completely forgotten. I hadn’t turned any of our clocks back and I didn’t pay attention to the time on my phone that reset automatically.

I had, after all, not missed the meeting. In fact, I was on it an hour early. I laughed and was extremely grateful for this realization.

It was a tender mercy that the remembrance of Daylight Saving Time came before I missed the call all together and when I wanted time to stretch a little further, it just so happened that I had one more hour to accomplish my tasks. I felt relief and relaxed. That was all the time that I needed. That extra hour made all the difference.

When have you been concerned and felt overwhelmed with a lack of adequate time in the day to do all you hoped to do and you realized you actually had more time on the day of or the day after “fall back” Daylight Saving Time?

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.*