Tender Mercies

I have been thinking about some of the Tender Mercies of the Lord that I have experienced in my life. There have been so many, but here are a few that come to mind;

• Being able to find a part-time job cleaning houses in Ephraim--while standing in line at the financial aid office, wondering how in the world the words from my father's blessing would be fulfilled ("you will be able to find work that will allow you to have time for other activities") especially because I had applied for every job I knew of, and nothing. Just then my mom's uncle who worked on campus walked up and offered me a job cleaning their home. I was afraid he offered out of pity, but I gratefully took it. Later I was offered yet another home to clean and a job as a t.a. on campus. All three jobs blessed my life, and all three were flexible enough to not interfere with any school or social plans.
• One day, after a disturbing dream about a close friend, I called to see how he was doing. I found out that he had attempted suicide. I didn't know what emotion was strongest, shock, scared, angry, or hurt. The doorbell rang, and I hung up the phone. There was my visiting teacher who had set the appointment days before with impeccable timing. Although I barely knew her, I was so glad to see her and to have someone to share my feelings with.
• The first 6 weeks of my mission I didn't receive any mail, and then I got three lengthy letters all at once. "Cancer stage 3", "Grandma will be okay" "It doesn't look good" "Clear Cell cancer" I read in dismay. Through tears, I frantically scrambled through opened envelopes to discover in which order they had been written. My companion also had a grandmother dying of cancer, and she cried with me as we sorted through mail that day and each subsequent time we got mail. It was so comforting to have a companion who understood that helpless, worried feeling, and who was so compassionate.
• I lost my Grandpa just after my mission was complete, but the fact that I was able to see him at home and get a good barrel chested squeeze, hear him at Thanksgiving dinner say how grateful he was to have been with "his woman" for 50 years (including their time dating), and then spend one last sweet moment with him in the hospital before his passing was a tender mercy, I cannot forget. I had been offered a chance to extend my mission by just 3 weeks and come home before Christmas, but when I prayed about it, the answer was "no". Looking back, I was so grateful I left; had I stayed, my return date would have been the same date as the funeral.
• When my great-grandmothers passed away, there were also tender mercies. One never had called me by my correct name that I could remember, but the last conversation I had with her she said, "Crystal, you are such a beautiful girl". It meant a lot especially to my insecure teenage self-esteem. I was blessed to be part of a beautiful "last supper" with another great-grandma. All of her daughters and a few grand and great-grand daughters gathered around her bed. Each of us had a "happy meal" and enjoyed a picnic and sang all of her favorite old time songs. She was very lucid and waved her frail arm directing our singing when too weak to sing along. A sweet cherished memory.
• I happened to drop in on a great-grandmother just after she had fallen and was able to take her to the doctor and spend the day with her (Much longer than the usual hour or two visits we were accustomed to). Later she moved in with relatives, and the last time I saw her we spent the hour or so going through some scrapbooks and papers she had. As I drove away I had a strong impression to go back and make copies of some of the things she had shown me. I did, and have ever been grateful.
• At one point during my high school years, I decided that I would not do homework on Sunday. Instead, I would try to get up very early Monday (sometimes as soon as it was Monday :)) to finish what hadn't been done on Saturday. Most of the time I was able to complete the assignments. However, those times when I had done all that I could, but still not finished, almost invariably I was informed in class that we had another day to finish the assignment. "When we really try, the Lord won't let us fail"
• My husband had been in the country less than a year, and had probably only been in an American hospital once (for our "tour" at the end of our prenatal class) when I went to deliver my first. He and I were both nervous, his English skills were limited, and it was a hard, complicated labor & delivery. We were both relieved to recognize the nurse that came in on the shift change as our class instructor. She informed us that she was on duty until 6 am and that I would have that baby before then. Just after 5 am I did deliver, and it was so nice to have someone familiar there to help us through.
• When we attended our first meeting in our new ward, once again apprehensive, standing in the doorway looking for a place to sit, I noticed my husband suddenly relax and move quickly. He walked to a row and before sitting down shook hands with a man I later found out was his teacher from school. Of course, we eventually made many friends, but it is always nice to know someone on that first day.
  

Those are just a few that I thought of, what are Tender Mercies that you have seen in your life?