of mercies and of miracles

Pardon me if this entry seems redundant. I know I have said this before, but I feel the need to say it again. Our God is a God of miracles. His "tender mercies are over all those whom he hath chosen because of their faith". I think when we look back on this year we will call it the year of miracles.

We took the kids on a hike yesterday. I love hiking. While the hike was great, and the kids were great, my favorite part about hiking is the thoughts that come while hiking. Yesterday I came home with a renewed desire to pray and study my scriptures. And as I did that I was once again reminded of the miracles we've seen. Let me share a few more.

Sunday another sister approached me about giving us some food. She has changed her diet and wanted to give me all the things that seem to be bothering her family. This included 25 pounds of white sugar, 5 pounds of white flour, and 10 cans of wheat. Plus refried beans, soup mix, chocolate chips, chocolate bark, butter, ranch dressing, and all sorts of yummy sauces and spices. That is a total of 5 people in the last 6 months that have given us a significant amount of food--4 of those times it has been so much food that we couldn't fit it all in our cupboards. It had to sit on the floor for a few days before we could organize it all. That is a miracle.

We recently recieved a check from our mortgage company, they overestimated our escrow and were returning the difference. Let's just say it is 5 months worth of groceries on our new budget. We got excited and decided to get the brakes checked on our car, they've been squeaking for a long time. Guess what? There is nothing wrong with the brakes. Our bill was $0. That is a miracle. Actually that is two miracles.

We've been blessed with work. I've had to turn away piano and voice students. Adam has had extra hours at VanGuard and asked to sub for seminary. That, right now, is a miracle.

To top it all off we have witnessed 13 friends accept the gospel and be baptized in the last 6 months. We got another call Sunday from another friend and her fiance who have agreed to be baptized. That we have been able to be a small part of these good people's lives is a tender mercy of the Lord.

I can't express my gratitude for the Lord and his goodness. We have an end date, April 16-17 we'll get the phone call telling us yes or no for next year. Either way, what a great year it has been.