Remembering Tender Mercies

For FHE we talked about journals. It has been almost 10 months since Josie and Joshua's last entry, but before that we did it regularly for nearly 8 months. They still love getting out these journals, filled with short sentences and silly pictures I drew for them to color. I feel like we've missed out on so much because I stopped making it a habit before bedtime.

I've also decided that since I'm getting this blogging thing down, it is time to start recording, regularly, as Nephi says, "the tender mercies of the Lord". I've thought about Elder Eyring's council a lot, to record these regularly, if not daily. I figure if I don't do it on the blog, I probably won't do it any other way. This is, in no way, represents of the lack of problems or frustrations in our lives. I don't want necessarily to see the world in rose colored glasses. Yet I know that by making it a point to see the Lord's mercies, my eyes will be in tune to recognize them more. And ultimately increase my faith and gratitude for such a loving and perfect Father and Savior. And as Nephi says, "to make [us] (because of our faith) mighty even unto the power of deliverance". So hear goes:


Michelle: I felt very grateful that Heavenly Father answered a very sincere prayer I had. Josie seems to come home with a lot of homework lately. It is tiring for her and for me. But yesterday we said a prayer before we started. It worked out well, she plugged away without any complaints. Joshua even entertained himself for an hour. At 45 min. I was done and I said, "lets do this one tomorrow." But she insisted, "I want to do it now." She amazed me! So, yet again, another small prayer is answered. But we also learned a lesson: To ask the teacher to prioritize the homework--we'll do the most important ones first and after 30 minutes call it quits--that is plenty for a first grader.


Eric: Eric mentioned that a verse he read in DC 122 helped him during the day. Here Joseph Smith received great comfort and council as he was in Liberty Jail. The last verse says, "Fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever." Another verse in a previous section helped Eric to realize that with faith, our "confidence will be strong in the presence of God". This helped Eric, actually both of us, realize that even with an insanely busy month ahead (Eric will be completing his prelims--paper, exam and proposal--all within the next month or two, (Most students do this over a couple of semesters), that we don't need to fear. That because we are living righteously, the Lord will be with us forever.





Josie: She felt Heavenly Father's love when he helped her go back to school. She said she had been scared to go back, but that she had a good time because of our prayers.

Joshua: He was sad that he had dropped his seal down a hole in our wall (knowing that we could never get it back without ripping out the wall) and that Heavenly Father helped him to be brave.

Other things I was grateful for this morning:

Having the strength to stay up after nursing the boys at 4:30 am and exercise for 30 min.

Thinking I would have an hour to myself, but having all our children wake up at 5:30 am--getting frustrated about this, but having the strength to control my thoughts and tell the Josie and Joshua that I really needed some time and I needed them to have a long, calm, quiet time (which they did!)

Josie and Joshua helping with all the breakfast dishes, and laundry before it was time for school.

Seeing how excited Joshua was to trade in the "Rainbow Fairy" books for a magic tree house book at Nicolas.

Forgetting to replace the wipes in the diaper bag and Isaac dirtying his diaper and Joshua exclaiming for all to hear, "Isaac, you stink!"

Seeing Adam laugh and smile at this really nice worker at Nicola's. The man tried to get Isaac to laugh, but Isaac just looked at him with a sort of scowl as if to say, "That isn't funny. I'm trying to go to sleep here in a dirty diaper."