"...God our Eternal Father lives and loves us. He is indeed our Father, and He is personal and real. May we realize and understand how close to us He is willing to come, how far He is willing to go to help us, how much He loves us, and how much He does and is willing to do for us." -President Thomas S. MonsonMost of the time I know that Heavenly Father is there for me-but I imagine it's only in the major things. I always know that He will help me as I am trying to help others. I know that He will help me when I'm trying to overcome sin and be more Christlike. But all too often I forget that He is there for me in the "little things" as well. I had a really powerful reminder of that this weekend.
The last weekend was a little rough for me. I've been sick and I have this cough that won't go away, and that combined with the usual stresses of living and working got me bogged down. So I was feeling kind of low and we were visiting someone on Saturday night. One of the people we were talking to made the comment that we smelled like cinnamon rolls. That hit a chord with me and I suddenly really wanted to have the lightly glazed-fresh baked comfort-food goodness of a cinnamon roll.
I was resigned to the fact that I wouldn't get what I wanted, however I couldn't stop thinking about it.
Sunday morning we were invited to have breakfast at some one's house and low and behold, there were delicious, hot, fresh cinnamon rolls! The thought that immediately came to my head was, God loves me. He knew I was feeling down and even though he wasn't going to lighten my work load or take away my cough, He did something for me to remind me that He is there and HE CARES. It may seem like something tiny and insignificant in the Eternal scheme of things, but I know that God cares about the little things that matter to us because He loves us and what matters to us matters to Him. I am so grateful for that knowledge that I have a loving Father in Heaven who cares when it may feel like no one else does.
This post reminds me of the "tender mercies" of the Lord that Elder Bednar frequently mentions. I also know that Heavenly Father is aware of us individually and shows us how much he cares in a variety of ways. He frequently does this by inspiring others to take action in his behalf. I'm grateful to others for following those promptings and for the promptings I receive. I'm especially grateful to those who are watching over and helping my daughter, Sister Anderson, as she serves her mission.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing your testimony! I love that talk by Elder Bednar, which can be found here...
Deletehttp://www.lds.org/general-conference/2005/04/the-tender-mercies-of-the-lord?lang=eng
I particularly love the scripture he refers to at the beginning of the Book of Mormon.
"But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of ddeliverance." 1 Nephi 1:20
I love that because as you continue reading 1 Nephi and the rest of the Book of Mormon you are really able to see the tender mercies that the Lord has for his children. He will truly bless us in the major things in our lives as well as in the details.