Tender Mercies

One of my favorite phrases in The Book of Mormon is Nephi's reference to "tender mercies". It's the perfect written expression of a personally packaged blessing from heaven.

Elder Bednar said, "We should not underestimate or overlook the power of the Lord’s tender mercies. The simpleness, the sweetness, and the constancy of the tender mercies of the Lord will do much to fortify and protect us in the troubled times in which we do now and will yet live. When words cannot provide the solace we need or express the joy we feel, when it is simply futile to attempt to explain that which is unexplainable, when logic and reason cannot yield adequate understanding about the injustices and inequities of life, when mortal experience and evaluation are insufficient to produce a desired outcome, and when it seems that perhaps we are so totally alone, truly we are blessed by the tender mercies of the Lord and made mighty even unto the power of deliverance."

Yesterday, even though I had a rather pleasant day, I came home incredibly stressed about our financial situation. I was so worried about paying for everything that we have coming up and about having enough money to fly Phil out for more interviews in the coming months. I expressed my concerns to Phil and he tried to comfort me, but I'm not easily comforted when I'm stressed.

This morning when I was getting ready for work, my husband called me. He was so excited and said, "My professor said he has extra money from a grant for the lab so I'm going to get paid!" Keep in mind, Phil spends hours a week in this lab and, until now, it's all been for experience alone. I was so thrilled but it wasn't until I hung up the phone that I realized what had just happened. God heard my cries and knew my worries. He knew the thoughts of my heart and used this moment of concern to teach me a lesson.

Heavenly Father is always there and He uses the seemingly mundane and stressful days of our lives to remind us of His love. He's there. He's shown Himself to me again and I am so grateful for that.