"When our children were very small, I started to write down a few things about what happened every day. Let me tell you how that got started. I came home late from a Church assignment. It was after dark. My father-in-law, who lived near us, surprised me as I walked toward the front door of my house. He was carrying a load of pipes over his shoulder, walking very fast and dressed in his work clothes. I knew that he had been building a system to pump water from a stream below us up to our property.
He smiled, spoke softly, and then rushed past me into the darkness to go on with his work. I took a few steps toward the house, thinking of what he was doing for us, and just as I got to the door, I heard in my mind—not in my own voice—these words: “I’m not giving you these experiences for yourself. Write them down.”
I went inside. I didn’t go to bed. Although I was tired, I took out some paper and began to write. And as I did, I understood the message I had heard in my mind. I was supposed to record for my children to read, someday in the future, how I had seen the hand of God blessing our family. Grandpa didn’t have to do what he was doing for us. He could have had someone else do it or not have done it at all. But he was serving us, his family, in the way covenant disciples of Jesus Christ always do. I knew that was true. And so I wrote it down, so that my children could have the memory someday when they would need it.
I wrote down a few lines every day for years. I never missed a day no matter how tired I was or how early I would have to start the next day. Before I would write, I would ponder this question: “Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family today?” As I kept at it, something began to happen. As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done.
More than gratitude began to grow in my heart. Testimony grew. I became ever more certain that our Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. I felt more gratitude for the softening and refining that come because of the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ. And I grew more confident that the Holy Ghost can bring all things to our remembrance—even things we did not notice or pay attention to when they happened."
President Eyring, O Remember, Remember
I came across this part of a talk President Eyring gave just when I needed it. It has been a challenging month- one where I have been pulled and tested and had some hard moments finding out about some health challenges a family member is having. However, more than any other time in my life I have witnessed Heavenly Father orchestrating things around me to show me His love for me. Like President Eyring, I began to look for God's hand in my life and began to write those experiences, big or small, down. They became more obvious. I noticed them more frequently. I'm sure they were just as frequent as they had always been, but I noticed them now.
I was able to hear a Priesthood blessing given by my grandpa. The spirit in the room was so strong and I know the words he said came from God. The peace I felt was from Heavenly Father.
Tangible and recognizable comfort during personal prayer
Calm feelings where they didn't belong
Driving in my car having a tough time and seeing a license plate that said "Pray to Jesus. He WILL hear you."
Saw something about Hugh Jackman's cancer in Instagram that was a comfort to me. Don't remember what it said.
I was driving to pick up Jax's friend for school and was having another really hard moment in my car. As I drive through his neighborhood I passes a house with a sign in their window that said, "I love you. Love, God." It was just what I needed at that moment and I felt God's love for me.
My friend Kelly taking Jax until 7pm on a day I was fasting and really needed a break.
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