How is it possible that another week has flown by? It's been another wonderful week filled with blessings and tender mercies! My heart is so full of happiness and gratitude. A few days ago, I was doing my scripture study and I came across a penetrating scripture in Mormon 5:23:

"Know ye not that ye are in the hands of God? ..."

 I had to stop and ask myself, "Do I know that I am in the hands of God?"  The answer came quickly as I contemplated the many evidences of His love and tender care for me. I can answer with a resounding yes; I know that I am in the hands of God! In fact, I know that all of us are in His hands, for all of us are His beloved children.

This question is so important to remember through all of life's stages. Sometimes when trials come, it is human nature to feel like God has left us or has forgotten us. In these moments, we must ask ourselves "Know ye not that ye are in the hands of God?" As we ponder this pertinent question, we can realize the ways that He is helping us endure. More likely than not, He will give us strength rather than remove the trial. I am thankful for a Heavenly Father who is more quick to foster strength and growth than to remove obstacles and hardships. Who becomes stronger: the person who has a mountain moved or the person who climbs the mountain?

Life does not only bring hardship, but also many sweet and happy times. In these moments, we must also ask ourselves this question, and we will be humbled by the sweet blessings from God on high. I love this question because it promotes strength and gratitude. It prompts the soul to search for the Lord's tender mercies.

Over the last week, I have been pondering a lot about families. I have been impressed with the Lord's mercy in designing the family unit and sending us to earth in families. There is no question that the family is of divine origin. I believe that the Lord gives us experiences in this life that reflect things of eternal significance, thus helping us better develop an eternal perspective. The experiences that we have in our families help us to widen that eternal perspective and help us understand our Heavenly Father and our divine destiny.

While I cannot claim to have the love that God has for all of us, I feel like I understand it better now that I have my own child. Having a baby brought out a love in me that I didn't even know existed. Because of this experience, I feel like I gained a small window of insight into how God must feel about all of us. What a beautiful and tender gift that our Heavenly Father has given us, that through our families we can learn to better understand His love for us.

I like to think that there are an innumerable amount of lessons that we can learn from families. No family is perfect, and for those who come from exceptionally difficult family situations, sometimes all you may have to go on is faith in the Lord's mercy. Those problems may not be alleviated during this life, but the Lord is tender and He knows all. There is happiness to be found in Jesus Christ and our eternal family. Even if your earthly family is broken, you are part of a heavenly family. You are loved and needed!

I believe that we were given earthly families so that we could better understand how we should love one another. It can be easy to forget that we are all part of one large family - God's family. Thinking about how much we love our own earthly families can help us realize how we should feel about others. We are all siblings on the same mission: to bring ourselves and each other back to Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. I know that I would do anything to help my own family return to God. I need to be better, however, at remembering that I have two families: an earthly family and a heavenly family. Relating my feelings for my earthly family to my heavenly family helps me desire to develop the kind of love that I need to be like my Savior, Jesus Christ. He truly loves us all, and part of why we are here is to learn to love one another as He loves us.

I am grateful for the Lord's tender mercies that come in so many ways. When I began thinking about what I should write about this week, I had many thoughts about things that happened that I could share. It wasn't my immediate inclination to share thoughts that had come to me as I had been pondering. I felt impressed, however, that these thoughts were a very sacred tender mercy from the Lord and they needed to be recorded and shared. These thoughts are truly from my heart, and they were a blessing from the Lord to me over the last week. I hope that in some way, they bless you too.

I feel like the longer I do this blog, the more I recognize the Lord's blessings that are so personal to me. This is in and of itself is a sweet blessing. It makes me more aware of my Heavenly Father's love for me as I see that He is truly involved in the intricate details of my life. It brings to mind the scripture in Moses 1:35:

"...but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them."

We are commanded frequently in the scriptures to express gratitude to our Heavenly Father. The more I recognize and express gratitude for His blessings, the more I realize that this commandment is for US more than for Him. Whether we express gratitude or not, He loves us unconditionally. Recognizing the Lord's blessings, however, helps us see the great love that He has for us.

The last week has been filled with small miracles. Unlike the past few weeks, there has been a theme that I have noticed associated with these tender mercies: all of these miracles have made it possible for me to serve someone else. The Lord truly takes care of us when we follow His will and serve His children.


A friend in our ward just had twins a few weeks ago, and I wanted to take her dinner to help her out. I remember being so tired after having just one baby - I cannot begin to imagine how tired she must be with two new little ones! I always appreciated it when someone offered to bring a meal, and I told myself that I needed to offer others the same service that people so willingly offered to me when I had a new baby. The day arrived that I was going to take dinner to this sweet family, and of course it was the one day when the baby decided to take a nap way later than she usually does. This left me with a short amount of time to prepare not only dinner for her family, but for my family as well.

On any given day, it is usually hard enough to find the time to make just a meal for my family, let alone for someone else. Somehow, within an hour I was able to make a homemade pizza, two loaves of chocolate zucchini bread, and a quiche. Not only this, but I was able to wash some of the dishes while I waited for the pizza to finish baking. Some would hear this and foolishly give me the credit, saying that I am a "supermom." I know better. This was a direct blessing from the Lord; He wanted this woman to be taken care of, and He provided the means for me to be able to serve her. Not only was I able to serve her, but I was also able to take care of my own family. As I reflected on this experience at the end of that day, I had the distinct impression that the Lord had magnified my time.  He had given me a tender mercy so that I would be able to serve this family. What a beautiful testimony  that the Lord will help us take care of each other!

We really enjoy having the missionaries come over for dinner. They bring such a sweet spirit with them, and it helps remind our family that we need to be reaching out to others and sharing the glorious message of the gospel of Jesus Christ! We had them over for dinner last night, and I felt prompted to invite our neighbor to join us. She has become friends with the missionaries, and it seemed like a wonderful opportunity for all of us to get together. When I first received this impression, I was a little bit nervous about having enough food. Daniel has a hearty appetite, and the missionaries are usually pretty hungry themselves when they come over. I had planned a meal with four people in mind, and I was concerned about having enough for everyone.

In spite of my concerns, I invited our neighbor and she graciously accepted the invitation to join us. We had a lovely evening together, and I was so grateful that I had listened to that quiet prompting and invited our neighbor to join us. As Daniel and I cleaned up later that night, I was astonished by the amount of food that was left over. Everyone had eaten until they were full, but there was enough of the meal left that we will be able to have it for dinner tonight as well. I don't know the logistics behind a miracle such as this, but I do know that our family was blessed. We were blessed for being willing to serve and we were blessed with the means to serve.

The Lord is so aware of His children. He blesses us with opportunities to serve each other, and He blesses us with the ability to do so. I have been thinking a lot about the parable of the good Samaritan lately. Just as the good Samaritan promises the innkeeper that he will repay him for any extra he spends in nursing the Jew back to health, the Savior will give us the strength and the means that we need to serve others. Opportunities to serve don't usually come at a time when it is convenient, but if we will seize those opportunities to do as the Savior would do, He will make up the difference. I know He will; He's made up the difference for me.

Autumn is an incredibly beautiful time in West Virginia. Each day, when I step outside, more leaves have changed to the brilliant hue that was hidden under Spring's green. What an exciting time! I was driving to a Relief Society activity the other night and did not even realize that I was distracted until a bright red tree pulled me away from my thoughts. As I looked back in my rear view mirror to catch one more glimpse of the bright tree, I realized that I had missed many beautiful trees simply because I had been distracted with the thoughts of the day. How could I have missed something so beautiful when I was driving right past it? This experience reminded me once again of the importance of looking for the small miracles and tender mercies that come from the Lord.

The older I get, the less I believe in accidents or "luck" and the more I believe in a loving Heavenly Father who watches over His children and intentionally blesses their lives. As I have been striving to search for miracles, I have been blessed to see the Lord's hand in ways that I may not have previously considered. Here are just a couple of the tender mercies that I have seen in the last week.

When we lived in Utah, I enjoyed visiting my grandpa regularly. We truly enjoyed each others' company and we became dear friends. Out of anyone that I had to leave in Utah, it was the hardest to leave him. I miss him immensely and I think of him every day. A few days ago, I had a beautiful dream; when I awoke, there was no question that it was a tender mercy from my Heavenly Father, who is aware of my innermost feelings. In the dream, I unexpectedly ran into my grandpa as I was rushing to a gathering. He reached out and took my hand as he pulled me in for a hug with his other hand. Tears streamed down my face as he held me tightly and whispered in my ear, "You are a dear friend." The dream ended, and immediately upon waking the warm feeling in my heart witnessed to me that this dream was a blessing from above.

Another small miracle that I recognized came in an unexpected way. Daniel and I usually study our scriptures in the morning. One day last week, however, was atypical and we did not have a chance to study until the afternoon. There wasn't anything in particular that went wrong that day, but Daniel and I both noticed that we didn't feel like it had been a very good day. We had a pocket of time to do our scripture study in the afternoon, and the difference that we noticed was marked. Both of us noticed a big difference in the way that we felt and the spirit that was in our home once we had read the scriptures. As I reflected on this sweet experience, I recognized that it was also a blessing from the Lord. It was a sweet reminder of the incredible gift of the scriptures. I think I often forget to notice how they bless me each day - until an experience like this reminds me.

Heavenly Father is so good to us, and I know it is because He loves His children. I see His tender mercies strengthening me and my family. God be thanked for His unending mercy and love for all!

I've never been much of a blogger. For months now, however, I have been having the thought that I need to create a special blog. This is not a blog to archive different recipes that I try or my crafty experiments. This blog is to document how I see the Lord's hand in my life and the life of my family.

I don't know if the Lord has impressed me to do this because someone else needs it or because I do - it is probably a combination of both. Even if no one else ever reads a single post, this blog will stand as a witness that the Lord is still intimately involved in the lives of His children today because He loves us. I may not see His hands, but I feel the effects of His love and concern each day.

Recently, my husband started a graduate program in clinical psychology. Other students in the program are always studying, working on projects, or doing homework. From talking to them, he has realized that most of them feel like they don't have enough time to get everything that they need to done. Dan, however, has had enough time to get most of his work done at school. When he is home, he is able to be with our family and provide for our emotional and spiritual needs.

He mentioned yesterday that it makes him feel like he is forgetting about something that the other grad students are remembering to work on. This isn't the case. In fact, he is ahead on many projects that other students have yet to start. The Lord has truly magnified his time.This blessing is a tender mercy and miracle directly from the Lord to our family.

One of my biggest concerns before Dan started grad school was that he would not have enough time to spend with our family. I was worried that school would take up all of his time because other grad students had warned him about how school would consume his life. This small miracle has been such a personal blessing to me. I am grateful for Heavenly Father's mercy in abundantly blessing our family. I look forward to a family tradition of searching for the miracles each week that are evidence of those unseen hands.