For those who don't know me well, I'm a pretty easy going person. I'm not usually quick to feel angry or frustrated. When I am tired or sleep-deprived, however, I find myself weaker and much more susceptible to getting worked up. I am embarrassed but willing to admit that last night was one of those nights.

Our little one woke up at about one in the morning screaming. By 2:30, we felt like we'd tried everything we could possibly think of, and still, she would would not surrender to her utter exhaustion. Finally, I'd laid her down in her crib and gone back to bed. She was peaceful for a few minutes before she started crying once again.

At this point, I was at a complete loss as to what I should do for her. I began feeling angry and frustrated because:

1) I was not sound asleep in my bed like I wanted to be, and
2) No matter what I did, I could not figure out what my little one needed.

I went into her room and brought her out to the family room to sit on the couch with me for a bit. As we sat there, I noticed that I was tense with frustration and my thoughts reflected the anger that I was feeling. Then, a distinct thought came into my mind, "You have a choice. You can choose to be filled with anger and frustration, or you can choose to be filled with tenderness."

My heart softened immediately as I decided to choose tenderness over anger. I felt Him helping me let go of the unChristlike feelings I'd been having before, and they were replaced with love and peace. And then, something beautiful happened; what had been a burdensome and upsetting task just a minute before turned into a sweet and tender moment. I sat on the couch and gently rocked my sweet baby to sleep as I asked the Lord to forgive me and make me better. I felt of His love and took in that sweet moment, almost not wanting it to end.

I am grateful for the promptings of the Spirit, and the miracles that they can produce within us. If we listen closely, the Lord is always standing by, longing to take our weaknesses and change them into strengths.

"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." ~Ether 12:27

I believe that the Lord gave us weaknesses so that we could draw closer to Him and see ourselves grow with His help. He will help us recognize our weaknesses out of His love for us, and then He will lift us above ourselves and we will become better than we were before. Weaknesses are miracles waiting to happen within each of us! I am grateful for this small but significant miracle that I witnessed in myself, and I hope that the Spirit will continue to help me recognize places where I am weak but have the potential to be strong.