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What is a miracle?
According to the Websters Dictionary, a miracle is defined as an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs, or an extremely outstanding or unusual event, thing, or accomplishment. There are BIG miracles, when we can see the divine intervention of God in more of an obvious in your face circumstance, but can we have smaller miracles. Some miracles take place quietly, such as when a person gains a testimony of God’s truth, experiences a mighty change of heart, obtains forgiveness from the Lord, or is blessed with peace and strength during a difficult time. We might see the divine…
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Lighten My Burden
Our family lived in Hamburg, Germany, during World War I when food was rationed. City-dwellers often tried to purchase food from farmers, who sometimes had a little surplus. When I was fourteen years old, my mother gave me money for a railroad ticket and sent me to the country to try to buy food. After a two-hour train ride, I arrived at a village where I began walking door to door. Though I visited more than forty houses, no one would sell me anything. I was determined not to return home empty-handed and decided to walk the 4.5 kilometers to…
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We’re In This Together
Last night I played a softball game with nine other people. We were down 13 points by the last inning, playing the #1 team. It seemed pretty bleak. We were up to bat last. In order to win this game, we would need to rotate through the batting box at least fourteen times before we had three strikeouts. As each of us got up to bat, rather than focusing on a home run hit, we each just aimed to get on the base. The score started to change. First, they were 13 points ahead. Then 9. Then, we had just…
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Wings of Faith
I wanted to make my son’s Christmas wish come true and see in his face the joy I desperately wanted for myself. My three-year-old squeaks with excitement. His response is an innocent reply to my offhanded question, “What do you want for Christmas?” I mutter a hesitant “We’ll see” before putting him to bed, relishing the rare moments I get to spend with him. I’ve been too out of sorts to be present most of the time. The unceasing screams of his sister, suffering from colic, keep pulling me into the black hole of postpartum depression. I feel like a…
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Mom’s Empty Chair
My husband and I lived in the same ward as my angel mother. Each Sunday, as a member of the Relief Society presidency, I sat at the front of the Relief Society room, facing the sisters. My mother always sat in the same place on the front row. I enjoyed watching her responses to the lessons and hearing her comments. After each meeting, she kissed my cheek and squeezed my hand. My mother and I were close, so it broke my heart when she passed away unexpectedly. After her funeral, my emotions remained tender. When Sunday arrived, my husband asked…
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Stuck
One winter while I was driving home from a wedding reception for several hours in the middle of the night, the snowy weather became frighteningly intense. I was driving through a canyon, with 30 icy miles (48 km) stretched between me and my home. Almost instantly, it seemed, the road got slicker, the night sky darker, my eyes heavier, and the falling snow much thicker. Having foolishly forgotten to put my mother’s sport-utility vehicle into four-wheel drive, I realized there was little traction, but that thought arrived too late. I completely lost all control of the vehicle and began sliding across…
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Just Trust Me
Have you ever had a week where you told God “look. I know you are going to tell me that everything is going to be ok but this time I’m not sure you are right.” We have a convention that we are heading to this week. In the past week, I received an email with a cost I wasn’t aware of, bringing my total of show costs up so high, I thought there might not be any profit to be had. I was so discouraged with “the future” of this show, I completely shut down. I knew if I turned…
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Sister, I Love You
During an interview while I served in an elders quorum presidency, I asked a fellow quorum member if he had ever felt and acted on a spiritual prompting. He thought for a moment and shared an experience. One afternoon he was washing dishes when he received a strong impression to go knock on a neighbor’s door. He did not understand why, but the prompting was powerful and urgent. He stopped what he was doing and left right away. He arrived at his neighbor’s door, not knowing what to do or say, and knocked. No one answered. He knocked again. There…
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The Tale of the Curly Hair
This story is such a funny story. In 2021, I wanted curly hair again. I’d had curly hair growing up, not because I had naturally curly hair but because in the 80’s, perms were a popular thing and my mom knew how to give them. I asked my hairdresser if he could give me a perm. I’d let my hair grow out just long enough to give it a shot. He agreed, confirmed to me how great it would look and gave me a perm. Friends. I hated it. It was more frizzy than curly, it poked out in all…
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The Power of Desperate Prayer
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Letting Go
The other day, I felt prompted to write a very difficult story down in which I lost $21,000 dollars. This was a hard experience to go through losing that money I didn’t have, and the lesson was just as hard, that money really doesn’t matter to God, it shouldn’t matter so much to me. He asked me to let go, and I, after quite a while, conceded. Not initially because I felt I was really ready to let go of that money, but I needed God back in my life. That was the more important thing. Through time, I was…
