Blessed in our Daily Lives....

The past couple of weeks have been quite humbling and enlightening for me. I have gone through a roller coaster of emotions and questions concerning things that are happening in and around our family. Yesterday during church I came to know (again….I have to be reminded over and over) that the Lord really does care about me and more importantly, my family. Thanks in part to the two special sister missionaries who spoke in church. They spoke about being a disciple of Christ and also challenged us to “look for the blessings of the gospel in our daily lives.” Wow…simple, yet profound. How could I not understand and recognize how blessed I truly am….DUH! So, I decided today (and another challenge by Teria – RS lesson) that I would take a minute to blog about the many tender mercies and blessings of the gospel that occurred just this week.

The blessings of the gospel are evident in my family –

Alexa felt her Heavenly Father’s love this week and is growing and maturing into such an amazing woman as she is making some hard life choices. She took time to listen to the promptings of the spirit as the Lord guides and directs her life. She also was just called as a “FHE Mom” in her ward. Her and our prayers have been answered and we know this is a tender mercy. She called last night after a hard week of decisions and prayer – she was happy and content after what she calls, “a great Sabbath day.”

Our own “Sister Bridges” comprehends the many tender mercies as she touches the lives of the people in a small rural area of West Virginia. She is teaching, sharing her testimony often and has one baptism already scheduled for October 4th. The people of her small ward are loving and “feeding” Lerin and her companion, which her mother is grateful for. She bears her testimony often to us and we are grateful for her words that we know are touching her struggling sister and brother. We had prayed for a special companion during her first area – Sister Lindsay is remarkable and we know this too is a tender mercy – plus, get this….she is from St. George! Lerin is learning so much from Sister Lindsay.

Being practically the entire state away from my parents at their ages, is hard. I was praying for help and guidance as to what would be the best solution for both my parents. My sisters, brother and I worry and wish we could just “fix” everything. But, then my sister called me Saturday and she helped me to realize that my sweet dad is the answer to our prayers. We just assumed that he couldn’t do what needs to be done for my mom, because he is 87 years old himself. Well guess what? He is cherishing his role as his sweethearts care giver. He is healthy, alert and strong. (He still golf’s twice a week during the summer and is one of the “oldest” ushers at the Energy Solutions arena where he is known by all). He is our tender mercy and answer to prayer. So we are feeling grateful and blessed that we have a healthy, strong in body and mind dad to take care of our mom today.

Our oldest daughter is safe, home with us and is working hard to start the next phase of her life. Many things happened this week to help her to move in a better direction. We know that her being with us is answer to prayer and we are so thankful that she is now near her family who love her just as much as her Heavenly Father loves her. Watching two younger sisters help their older sister realize her worth is one tender mercy that I know is not a coincidence or random. It is a significant blessing that can’t be ignored.

McKay will be getting married soon. He wants more than anything to be a “real” dad to his priceless daughter, Jadilyn. She absolutely adores her daddy. She lights up when he walks into a room and he is finally becoming the man we knew he could become. He has also decided to join the Air Force after Christmas to create a better life for his new family. We have watched McKay make some poor choices in his life and have prayed hard for him to come around and finally “get it.” These past couple of weeks he has made such progress and we feel so blessed. The Lord knows our son and knows what small steps need to be taken for him to start back on his path to living a gospel centered life. These steps he has made, we know are blessings. He knows how important the gospel was in his home growing up. He told us this week that he wants Jadilyn to have a childhood like he had.
Tender Mercy? I think so…