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.*

When I Couldn’t See

When I got in my car and I was preparing to head out, I first applied make up to my eyes and noticed I could not see with my left eye. I realized that my contact had popped out.

Months ago, I had a thought to put contacts in my purse. Today, it was a tender mercy when I needed a contact, I had one available in my purse. It was also convenient that I could reach inside of my purse to get a replacement contact for the one that I had lost instead of getting out of my car, unlocking my house, and going back inside. I was able to more easily leave because I had a contact with me and it was pretty amazing that I could see better with the new contact than I could with the one that fell out!

When has an earlier thought or impression that you followed through with blessed and helped you days, weeks, months, or years later?

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.*

Why This Popcorn?

While strolling through the aisles at Sam’s Club, I came across a new brand of popcorn. I felt impressed to get a bag of Black & White Drizzlecorn although I was uncertain as to why I was getting it. After making my purchases and exiting the store, I observed a homeless man and his dog sitting against the wall of the store. As I was putting my groceries in the car, I felt prompted that I should give him something I had just bought. I wasn’t sure what until I saw the popcorn and knew right away that was it. When I took it over to him, the bag was facing the backside. He turned it around and as as soon as he saw the front, he smiled and said thank you.

I didn’t know at the time why I was getting the popcorn, but came to learn later the reason. It was a tender mercy that even though it did not make sense to me to add something to my cart I wasn’t really wanting, I followed the impression and realized it was meant for him.

When have you felt impressed to purchase something you didn’t plan on getting and you learned later that it was meant to bless the life of another?

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.*

Not All Was Lost

My husband and I were desirous and looking forward to attending the homecomings of two returned missionaries. They were the first of our son’s (himself being almost 3/4 of the way through his mission) group of friends to return home after serving a two year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and we were awaiting word as to when they would be taking place in their respective home wards. Time got away and I heard nothing until one day while in dialogue with a friend at church, I learned that they had already happened. I was bummed to hear the news that we had missed their homecoming talks.

Later that same afternoon, our family was attending a meeting at church. As we were preparing to exit the building, I looked down the hall and I saw one of our son’s friends in the foyer. It was a joyous reunion! As I was talking to him, the other returned missionary came out of the chapel. And shortly thereafter another one of our son’s friends also came out of the chapel into the foyer. Being able to talk to and see these two returned missionaries and the other friend of our son’s was an incredible experience!

When hours earlier I was sad that I had missed their homecomings, it was a tender mercy that here they both were in our building and we crossed paths and saw each other at that very moment in the foyer as we were preparing to leave the building and they were entering their meeting that was about to begin. It was awesome!

When have you been disappointed that you missed a missionary homecoming, a friend or loved one’s birthday party, baby shower, graduation, wedding, etc. and the circumstances and timing of crossing paths with them later was remarkable, replacing the sadness of wanting to have attended their special occasion to the joy that not all was lost and you were now seeing and spending one-on-one time with them?

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.*

Catching Spills

After making chili for a church function, I was unsure how I was going to transport it as I was concerned about it spilling in the car on the floor and the seats. I had a few minutes to figure it out before we needed to leave to be on time. As I asked my husband what we could do, he had a brilliant idea to put the crock pot inside a medium sized stock pot. It fit perfectly and if there was any spilling, it would be in the stock pot rather than in the car on the floor or the seats. It was a tender mercy that in a moment when I was trying to find a quick solution, my husband was standing nearby and thought of one right away. It was an ingenious solution.

When have you been on a time crunch trying to figure out a solution to a concern and it came by way of someone standing close by 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, please send your name and email address to tendermercymoments@gmail.com.*

I Know We Have Them, But Where?

Fall is a fun time of year. There are pumpkin patches, apple orchards, apple cider, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin carving, corn mazes, trick-or-treating, chili cook offs and so many more fun activities to do together as a family.

When my husband was preparing dinner, he had a thought to make caramel apples. He went to the fridge and pulled out the apples and as he began washing and prepping them, he asked me if we had any caramels. I was certain we had caramels. As I looked in the pantry, I found a bag that had only two remaining caramels. I was hopeful and confident that we had more packages, but I did not know exactly where. As I was trying to recall where I have kept them in the past and feeling overwhelmed about checking in multiple places, it was a tender mercy that they were in the first place that came to my mind.

In addition to having the ingredients to make the caramel apples, it was also a tender mercy that as it had been raining all day long, we did not have any extra-curricular activities in the evening. As a mom, driving kids to and fro on bad weather days is stressful and not wanting to go out, it was a tender mercy that on this night we were able to enjoy the comforts of staying in and the fall season eating delicious, juicy, sweet caramel apples.

When has it come to your mind where something you knew you had was located? And, when has the timing aligned nicely that on a bad weather day when you did not want to go out, your evening was free and you were able to enjoy the comforts of staying home spending quality time with family?

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.*
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Look Behind

While helping to shop for pants that were the right size for a family member, we couldn’t find anything. Of all the variety of pants and the number of tables and shelves with jeans on them, we couldn’t find the right size in their preferred color and style. We looked and looked until we had looked through all the piles. As we were about to leave empty-handed, I had a thought to look behind a stack we had previously looked through and what do you know, there was another stack directly behind the front stack. In there were 2 pairs of jeans the right size. It was a tender mercy to have received the impression to look behind. As I acted on it, not only did we find them, but we also got them on sale.

When have you felt impressed to look behind what you could see in front of you to find that what you were searching for was sitting behind something 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.*

Time Stood Still

When our family gathers together for our weekly “Family Home Evening” where each member participates doing one of the following—the song & prayer, scripture, lesson, activity, treat—rotating who does what each week, it can be chaotic and crazy when any one person is tired and cranky.

On one of these evenings as our kids were slap happy and it was getting on my nerves, for a moment, time stood still. Amidst the noise and rowdiness, I captured a glimpse of our togetherness. It was a tender mercy when I observed that everyone was present, participating, and engaged. Despite the noise spiraling around me, for a few seconds it was all tuned out and I captured the love that everyone has for each other. Instead of feeling frustrated, I felt joy.

As the days when our kids will disperse and leave home are getting shorter and shorter, I appreciate, value, and treasure very much our time together. I was grateful for the tender mercy to see beyond the loud commotion and recognize the blessing of our being all together and interacting with each other.

When has time stood still for you and you have captured the joy of being together with your family amidst chaos and commotion?

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.*