Tender Mercies

(yes, my eyes and nose are red from crying. yes, that's a zit on my chin)

I don't believe in coincidences. I use to call them 'little miracles' before Elder Bednar coined the phrase. He calls them 'Tender Mercies', I would have to agree with his description.

It was a tender mercy that Chelsea delivered our sweet little Mckenna on my day off. Actually, it wasn't my normally scheduled day off, I requested it off weeks ago so I could help set up and prepare food for our stake's Laurel/Priest Etiquette dinner that night. I took Paisley so Joe and Chelsea could have a relaxing day at the beautiful St. Marks birthing suite; complete with a hot tub and room service.

Paisley was a big help, handing me the napkins and the cups as we set the tables. She was a good girl when we went to Sams Club to buy bread and vegetables (another tender mercy). As we were putting our purchases in the trunk of the car, a firetruck pulled in the parking lot not far from where we were. When we walked the mile to put the cart in the stall, (possible slight exaggeration) the firemen were getting out and Paisley waved to them. (It was so cute). The firemen, in much better shape and not carrying a toddler on their hip, ran the mile distance to our car (feels like a mile with a toddler and loaded purse) and asked if my cute little daughter would like a stuffed animal. Another tender mercy! (The stuffed animal, not the part where he thought I looked young enough to be her mother. I made that part up.)

I like to look for tender mercies everyday. It makes me feel like someone up there loves me and is aware of me. Sometimes we don't realize the tender mercies when they happen; it might take days or weeks before we're able to recognize them for what they are. For example:

Two weeks ago, on a friday, I came down with a sore throat. Not uncommon, there's been a bug going around. The problem was, I had to train on Monday and Tuesday all day, and a half day on Wednesday. It's pretty hard to stand and talk all day when you have a sore throat. I did pray hard that I would be well enough to train, as my back-up trainer is not able to stand and train as well. The weekend was miserable, but by Monday I was back to work and my sore throat gone. Prayers were answered. Here's the tender mercy... I wasn't really all better, it was just a slight reprieve to get me through my training. By Thursday, the day after my trainings, my sore throat came back. By Friday I was coughing. Monday was so bad I took a sick day. I coughed all week, but by the next Monday, my coughing had pretty much ceased, and I was able to train again. A tender mercy. Another one:

Several weeks ago I got off work early, unusually early. I decided to take advantage of the afternoon by stopping by Tai-Pan to see if they had anything inexpensive we could buy to decorate with for our Stake Etiquette Dinner. As I was sitting at the stop light on 90th south, out of the corner of my eye, I see someone doing the freak out dance. I normally don't stare at people if they happen to sing or dance in their cars, because I know how uncomfortable it makes them feel when people turn and stare; I'd rather not say how I know that, just trust me. But for some reason, the flailing arms was just too much to ignore, so I turned my head...and there was Kayla!

My Kayla girl, who lives in Bountiful, works in Centerville, and was just an hour previously, instant messaging me that she needed to talk to me and asking me when my lunch was so she could call me. I knew I would be getting off work at 2, so I told her to call me then. It wasn't until I got in my car and I tried to call her that I realized my phone was dead, and now there she was...two lanes over, waving at me! We rolled down our windows and shouted to each other. She was on her way to take a friend out to lunch for her birthday, and would stop at the house afterwards. We shouted our 'I love you's', then we both drove off with big smiles on our faces thinking what are the odds of that happening. Both at the right place, and at the right time. What a coincidence. Wait a minute...I don't believe in coincidences.

That must have been a tender mercy. And then I had to go and ruin the moment.

My motherly concerns kicked in. My mind started reeling with all the possibilities. "Why did I need that tender mercy? Was she going to get into a car accident? Was that the last time I going to see my daughter...or tell her I loved her...my phone was dead, the Lord knew that, was that the only way I could have said good-bye?"

This story has a happy ending...we both lived to tell the tale of 'Close encounters on 90th south'. She is fine. I am fine. Maybe it really was a coincidence. Or maybe someone up there has a sense of humor; maybe they were having a bad day and wanted to see Kayla do the freak out dance. Maybe they just wanted to make me smile. Who knows. All I know is that I will never stop looking for tender mercies. They are everywhere. And I am going to stop over-analying them, I'll just accept them for what they are.

Oh, as for my shopping trip to Tai-Pan...I found for the table centerpieces, red flameless candles for only .99 cents!

No denying it...that was a tender mercy!