Tender Mercies Tuesday

In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Proverbs 3:5

Today at my ARP meeting, I had this idea to begin a Tender Mercies Tuesday theme on my blog, wherein I would write about the tender mercies of my life in from the past week. It was a very specific idea, and since it might be a prompting, Ima do it. Besides, it's not a bad idea.

The verse above promises that if we acknowledge Him, He'll direct our paths. If anyone needs direction, I do, so I am hopeful and faithful that by taking the time to acknowledge His hand in my life, He will direct my paths.

I'm starting now. I imagine that going forward, I will take notes of tender mercies as they come, and that I'll see more and more of them as I seek them. However, for today, I haven't had the benefit of a week to plan, so we'll see how far I can get.

Well, let's see... PASG meeting! Total tender mercy in and of itself. What a blessing it is to have these meetings as a tool in my life to help me heal and come closer to my Savior. Also, tonight we had three women (including me) at the meeting! It's an answer to my prayers that more women will find the meeting. It was so wonderful.

Um, what else. Well last week I had strep throat. I never get sick, so it was a shock. My home teacher knocked on my door a few hours after the strep test at the clinic showed positive. "I heard you weren't feeling well," he said. I don't know who told him. I had complained about it on Facebook but I'm not a FB friend with him. Anyway, what matters is that once he found out, he stopped by. What a tender mercy! He offered to come back with another Priesthood holder the next day and give me a blessing. And he followed through with that. With the help of the Priesthood, prayer, and antibiotics, I recovered very quickly.

What else has God done for me over the past week....?

Oh! I got two new piano students!! I am just getting back into teaching piano lessons, and right now it's a financial need. My wages are pathetic and simply not enough to support a family on. In fact, I don't think I make enough to support one person, let alone three. I have been blessed through tax returns, but before that, I was drowning in bills. Well, tax returns are running out. I needed an intervention. I had one piano student-- yep, one-- and I needed more. I've been advertising for months, and praying for more students. And, out of the blue, a woman I knew over a decade ago, when we were Laurels, contacted me and said she heard I taught piano. I met with her and her two kids today, and they'll start next week.

Oh, and speaking of financial tender mercies-- I got a letter from my previous employer telling me that additional money had been added to my 401k. What? Why does that happen? Well, it's not a whole lot, but after I cash it out, it'll be just enough for a mortgage payment.

All week, God has given me strength to say no to Pepsi. In fact, if last week hadn't started out with Strep, I probably would have been drinking Pepsi all week again. I had no desire for sugar down my throat when I was sick, though, and those two days of misery were enough to jump start me to a Pepsi-free week. Nine days now..... phew....! So... Strep was a tender mercy? Maybe!

My daily health is a tender mercy. How grateful I am for it.

Today I realized with great panic that my son's Humpty Dumpty Derby is Thursday. It's like the Pinewood Derby, and is in place of the Pinewood Derby. It's my boy's first derby ever and of course I want him to participate. But... I don't know the first thing about making a car!! I am sure I don't have the tools either. I don't even have paint. I was feeling all shades of upset, including resentful to a father figure that doesn't exist in my son's life-- at least not for this kind of thing. I was feeling resentful to the Cub Scout Program for giving me a block of wood and letting me go free w/o vast instruction and help! haha. I was feeling resentful to myself for not knowing how and for now wanting to. I mentioned something on FB (I love Facebook! What a tool for service it can be!) and my dear, dear friend, who is a brother to me, offered, just offered to help. And he offered in a way that made me feel like I wasn't a burden, like he was genuinely happy to help my son build his car. And I think he is. And I feel like God led me to wonderful people like this so that I wouldn't be overwhelmed all the time trying to raise my sweet kids alone. I love Him for it.

I have to go to bed now. I know I was blessed more than this but this is a pretty good week. Wow. I am loved. I am loved by an all powerful, all knowing GOD, who is my Father.