Sometimes it’s the little tender mercies that remind us that God is in the details. Earlier this year, our son got a mission call and was able to go to the MTC, prior to flying out to his mission which was out of state.  We were excited for him to go, but it was a little hard knowing we wouldn’t see him for two years. My husband works in Salt lake and regularly takes the train rather than driving in traffic.  This particular day, my husband ended up taking a train to work that was a little later than usual.  When he stepped onto the train, he noticed missionaries on…

Allow me to share with you an experience from my own boyhood. When I was 11 years old, my family had to leave East Germany and begin a new life in West Germany overnight. Until my father could get back into his original profession as a government employee, my parents operated a small laundry business in our little town. I became the laundry delivery boy. To be able to do that effectively, I needed a bicycle to pull the heavy laundry cart. I had always dreamed of owning a nice, sleek, shiny, sporty red bicycle. But there had never been enough money to fulfill this dream. What I got instead was…

My dad was a brilliant accountant.  He had retired from the family company and decided to pick up a few accounts to do on the side, never really wanting to retire fully.  Sometimes, being the teacher he was, he would ask me to come help him balance out his accounts, teaching me little by little his business.   At the time, I had a full time job.  I never planned on doing accounting for a living so working with my dad was good because I got to spend time with him.   The beginning of the new year, my dad found out he had cancer, and it was terminal.  I felt confident…

On one occasion many years ago, I was swimming laps at the old Deseret Gym in Salt Lake City when I felt the inspiration to go to the University Hospital to visit a good friend of mine who had lost the use of his lower limbs because of a malignancy and the surgery which followed. I immediately left the pool, dressed, and was soon on my way to see this good man. When I arrived at his room, I found that it was empty. Upon inquiry I learned I would probably find him in the swimming pool area of the hospital, an area which was used for physical therapy. Such…

When I first moved to Pleasant Grove, I brought with me my two daughters and my mother.  It was a big step.  I had moved into a town where I knew almost no-one.  I had purchased this big old home that needed work but I loved it. I had spent many hours dreaming of how to fix up and decorate this home and had so many ideas!   I remember one specific day, really wanting to go shopping.  It was a Saturday, and I wanted to get out of the house and go shopping.  Maybe to a yard sale.  Or maybe to the Deseret Industries.  I was hoping I might get…

In April of 1961 my family was on vacation visiting family in Idaho. They were heading back home to Riverside California going through Oregon. My mom was 34 weeks pregnant with me at the time and she was getting antsy.  She was hoping that if she drove that would help her. My dad pulled over and let her drive and he then took a nap on one of the seats of their VW van.  Several miles down the road, the Axel of the van broke and my mom lost control. The VW ended up rolling a few times which threw my father out and killed him instantly. My siblings had…

I have the most beautiful tender mercy I thought I’d share with you, prefaced with a little background.   When I go to church every week, I always just slip in the back usually because I’m either right on time, or slightly late and can avoid any kind of disruption of the worship walking in front of people, having people scoot over, etc.  In the back of the church, the chairs are hard, with the softer benches at the front of the chapel.  They are uncomfortable!  There have been more than a few times I’ve complained to my friend how hard the chairs are, longing for padded chairs. This morning, as…

Miracles big and small all come from the same place.  The difference is that we often claim the small ones as lucky, something that just aligned in our lives for no reason.  We celebrated the gift giving part of Christmas late, since some of us were sick the day of actual Christmas.  There was one son I hadn’t purchased a gift for. I had really pondered what I should give him.  He has a partner now and so it was even more challenging choosing what to get them both that would be thoughtful.  Finally, after much thought, I decided to get him a gift card at one of the local…