Year of Miracles #52

This post marks a full year of miracles--52 weeks of recognizing the hand of the Lord in my life. And this week's miracle is the blessing I have felt for completing the entire year. It is very easy to go through each day without seeing divine influence. But as I have applied myself and have tried to open my eyes a little wider I have more fully seen these blessings.

Here is one example: Today before church was a struggle. It was not terribly unusual, just one of those mornings we all dislike. Just this morning I found it a little harder to cope than usual. Several times I had to pray to get help biting my tongue and keeping my voice under control. I was not perfect, but I did feel some divine aid and was able to get through it all without causing any relationship damage. I was late to church and life was not perfect, but because my prayers were answered it was a lot better than it would have been otherwise.

So although I will no longer be posting about the miracles I have seen in my life, I still want to express gratitude for this series. I hope my readers have enjoyed it as much as I have. Next week I will try to start a new series!

Scripture of the Day: Mosiah 16:7-8

Year of Miracles #51

I am a bit late posting a miracle, but I was holding off to make it go along with Kitty's birthday! Today she turns 9 years old and I am a bit sad she is getting so big. She is definitely a miracle in my life and a wonderful addition to our family. She is usually very helpful around the house, willing to share, and loves littler children. Today she took a buttercup to school to give her teacher--she always thinks of thoughtful ways to be kind to others. I am so proud of her and grateful to be her mom! Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

Scripture of the Day: 1 Cor. 15:12-14

Year of Miracles #50

This past week I had an immediate answer to prayer. I had lost an exercise DVD I wanted to use. I looked all over for it--even cleaned off my computer desk trying to find it (I often play it on my laptop when the TV is being used by the kids). After an hour of trying to find it I prayed for help. Less than 10 minutes later I had an idea come to mind that it might be with the computer games. And that is exactly where I found it!

Scripture of the Day: 2 Nephi 9:13

Year of Miracles #49

This week I am really grateful for the miracles modern medicine affords us. Sweetie Peach had a bad allergic reaction a week or so ago and with the help of medication she was fine within a few days. And on Saturday I woke up with a terrible headache. Without taking medicine, my day would have been shot--in fact I took medicine and the headache came back later that day. But the temporary relief I had gave me the time I needed to get a lot done and take care of my family. Little things like that happen all the time, really. But lately I have noticed it more and have felt more appreciation for this miracle.

Year of Miracles #48

This past Friday we had a miracle in my family that I am so grateful happened! My older brother, James, a designer living in Phoenix, was the victim of a home invasion at gun point. He was home at the time when two men broke into his condo and held him up. The miracle is that my brother was not seriously injured and his home was not terribly damaged. They stole his iPhone, his watch, a computer, and some other items that could be carried easily. But my brave brother stood up to them and would not let them take his car. Like I said, it is a miracle he was kept safe. I guess those prayers for "no harm or accident" really are helping.

Scripture of the Day: Psalms 27:4

Year of Miracles #47

Friday was stake temple day and we were asked to try and participate as much as possible. I really wanted to go, but was not sure how to work it into the day. I needed to go weigh-in in the morning, then I had two Art Masterpiece lessons to teach in the early afternoon (with an hour between them). I did not want to go in the evening because I knew it would be busy; besides, my mom was going to be stopping by my house about dinner time.

I decided the only window of time I had was right after the kids got out of school. If I could hit the 3:30 p.m. session I could be home before dinner. But it was tricky--I had to run the afternoon carpool and school did not end until 3:00. So I got all ready for the mad dash and had my temple bag in the van. It is all a blur now, but somehow I got the kids all dropped off, made it down to the temple, got changed, and made it to the 3:30 session. I thought afterward that it was definitely a miracle that I made it there and it worked out.

Scripture of the Day: Luke 24:53

Year of Miracles #46

A few weeks ago I read about this miracle from my nephew (currently serving his mission in Madagascar) and thought I would share. I hope you enjoy both the miracle and the message.

"There is this one member in our area that is super diligent. He gave us this referral for his aunt (Neny). She just lost her leg to diabetes and so has felt the need for religion. She used to sell things in the market but because of her leg she can't work anymore. We have been teaching her for a while but she hasn't been able to come to church because of missing a leg. This last Thursday we had a really good time with her. We taught her about faith and how if we have faith we can do anything. We then asked her if she was going to come to church. She told us she would try but because of her missing leg she couldn't make the money to pay for the bus. We asked her if there was any work that she could look for and again she told us that it was impossible because of her leg. It kind of left us in a bad spot because we couldn't pay it for her and her relatives couldn't afford it either. Then we told her that if she would try as hard as she could to find the money before and have faith that there would be a way prepared for her. She tried throughout the week but didn't see any money. Despite that she and her granddaughter got ready for Sunday. They got dressed up and met the member at the bus stop not knowing ow to get there. All the buses were full and they thought they were going to have to walk. Just as they were about to go a neighbor of theirs who was passing by in a taxi offered to take them right next to the church since he was going there anyway. They made it to church and we were so excited. My companion Elder Rossiter carried her up the four stories to the sacrament room. It was so amazing to see her act on her faith and to see how the Lord will bless us if we try.

"To add onto that there is an inactive who is also missing a leg that we have been teaching recently. The past two weeks he has been at church despite the distance and the hardships. He even gets himself up the four stories. They are real faith builders. It is interesting to me to see how Neny had to look hard first and then put her trust in the Lord even though see couldn't see at the time how the Lord would answer their prayer. We too have to act on our faith first doing all that we can and even if it doesn't seem like there is a way to continue and the Lord will prepare a path for us."

Scripture of the Day: Ezekiel 6:2-3

Year of Miracles #45

Today at church our talented Sunday School teacher, Brother Lehman, shared this miracle that happened to him yesterday. He told how a few days ago he went to put on his glasses but when he found them one of the lenses had fallen out. Upon closer inspection, Brother Lehman found a screw had come out and the lense would not stay in place without it. He decided to hunt for his back-up pair of glasses to use in the meantime. So he went into his closet to look on the shelves where he thought they would be. After hunting for some time, though, he came up empty handed. He changed his mind, drove to the optician's office and had the screw replaced in the glasses.

Then yesterday Brother Lehman and his wife were doing yard work (pruning trees and bushes). They trimmed a bunch of branches and then took them down the street where a large dumpster was placed for neighbors to use. Brother Lehman began throwing in the branches. After a while a neighbor came out and jokingly noticed Brother Lehman did not have on his glasses. This surprised Brother Lehman and he realized in his effort to get the branches in the dumpster somehow the glasses must have been tossed in too.

Although Brother and Sister Lehman climbed into the dumpster and searched (and prayed even for help) they could not find the glasses. They headed home where Brother Lehman prayed about it more. He was worried about not having the glasses and not knowing where his back-up pair were. He still had his Sunday School lesson to prepare, and without the glasses he could not read.

Soon he had a prompting to go look in a box in his closet. So he went back into the closet, opened the box, and pulled out the spare glasses. The Lord had heard his prayer and helped him to find what he had previously had been unable to find on his own.

Scripture of the Day: Mosiah 2:1

Year of Miracles #44

Last Thursday evening Steve and I stayed up late (to avoid traffic) to tow the van to the fix-it shop. At about 10:45 pm he hitched the van up to his Dad's old truck (borrowed) and we headed toward downtown Mesa. Kitty came along because she was having growing pains in her legs and couldn't sleep.

The towing part itself was uneventful. I am getting pretty experienced at it and good at making sure I don't rear end the towing vehicle. The miracle came when we all got in the truck to head home and it would not start. Yep, the battery needed to be jumped.

So I got out the trusty cell phone to try and find someone to come help and bring us some jumper cables at what was now 11:30 at night.

First call: answering machine

Second call: answering machine

Third call: answering machine

(Seriously, people of Mesa, what's up with not answering phones at night? It might be someone needing jumper cables.)

So finally I called my parents in Gilbert and my dad said he would come right down to help. But right then Steve found jumper cables hidden behind the seat--a very convenient coincidence. So we called back and told my dad not to bother coming, used the van to jump the truck, and headed home.

Scripture of the Day: D&C 131:2

Year of Miracles #43

What do you get when you try to tie this Art Masterpiece cave art painting...

(Lascaux cave painting, France)

...into a Valentine craft kindergartners can make within a 15 minute time period? Answer: My weekly miracle! On Thursday I learned from Sweetie Peach's class mom that their Valentine party was during my Art Masterpiece time and would I be able to turn it into a Valentine craft and then stay and help with the party? I said "yes" without first looking at the painting--and then about panicked when I saw it was a cave painting. "What do I do with that?" I asked myself.

I called and talked to my good friend Heather -- we are good at generating ideas together. Then I did a little research on the Internet. All I could think of was to use crumpled paper bag and then have the kids draw cave type figures on it. And maybe I could throw a catchy Valentine saying on it to try and make it fit the holiday. But still it did not seem quite right. Just wasn't working for me.

So I mentioned the problem in my prayer that night before bed. And during the night the idea came to me. My focus was all wrong! I should not focus on the cave painting part, but on the stick figure part. Cave artists usually used stick figures. I could show the kids how to draw stick figures and then make that into a Valentine.

So when morning came I pre-cut some hearts, found some pastel paper in my scrapbooking stash, and made a sample for the kids to see. Here is what Sweetie Peach's finished product looked like:


It went great, took the perfect amount of time, and was not too challenging for the kids to do. In fact, I think they enjoyed learning how to do stick figures. I was really grateful for inspiration that made the experience fun and enjoyable.

Scripture of the Day: Moses 6:58

P.S. Don't forget to enter the giveaway for my book (click and scroll down) on Modern Molly Mormon this week! Today is the last day to enter.

Year of Miracles #42

Yesterday my husband took the van out to run some errands. A short time later he called me to say he was not able to get the van to start (something was wrong with the ignition lock). When I arrived to pick him up I found him there with the van loaded onto a tow truck. While he was waiting for me, the tow truck drove up and unloaded another person's car. Before the tow truck left, my husband asked if he was free to tow our van home. Sure enough he was available.

I have to admit I did not initially like that this had occurred. The expense of it and the frustration of additional problems with the van bothered me. But the more I have thought about it, the more I realize that it was a blessing. This saved us the trouble of trying to: a.) work on the van while it was more than 8 miles from our home and tools; and/or b.) trying to tow the van home with our four-door sedan. Somehow I cannot envision the latter going well.

But I am continuing to pray for something to happen to take care of the van problem once and for all. A lightening strike would be good...

Scripture of the Day: Mark 10:7-9

Year of Miracles #41

This little miracle happened a few weeks ago...

The kids and I were riding our bikes around the neighborhood to expend some of the pent up Sunday energy. The weather had been a bit rainy and cool. It was so nice out and our ride was going well. Until we got about a mile from home, that is. Then Patch crashed on his bike. He was not seriously hurt, but the brake on the back tire was messed up and I could not figure out how to get it to stop clenching. The tire would not move, making it impossible to ride his bike.

We stood there for a few minutes while I contemplated what my next move should be. The rain was starting up again and we were gwtting a little bit too wet.

Then a car came down the street and pulled into the driveway of the house by which we were stranded. A nice man came to see what was the problem. I could pretty much tell he was just getting home from his ward (he had on a suit and carried a scripture tote; also there are four wards in our square mile, so I felt the likelihood he was a member was pretty high). After I explained the problem he offered to take the bike home for us in the back of his car while I rode home with the rest of the kids.

So he and his wife loaded up Patch's bike (and Patch, so he could direct them) and I took off home with the girls. I was really grateful to have help so quickly and appreciated the service that nice couple rendered.

Year of Miracles #40

Last week while in Denver we had a rough patch the first night. Thinking back now it seems comical, but it was stressful at the time. Let me set the stage for you:

My brother (Jeff) and his family are the proud owners of very playful 1 yr. old dog; a golden retriever named Daisy. Daisy has not been well trained. In fact, she has a bad habit of running away and getting lost. My brother had purchased a special collar/electrical fence system that helped keep Daisy contained in the back yard, but the collar was chewed off and the fence was disarmed with the accidental fierceness of the weed-whacker. So, at the time of our visit Daisy was typically incarcerated in the house except for brief leash-regulated stints in the back yard or on walks.

The morning of the day we arrived in Denver, Daisy had escaped her leash and my sweet SIL (Alicia) had spent 45 minutes finding the runaway and bringing her home.

Then we arrived on the scene. And at one point in the evening my parents and I were on the main floor of the house while Jeff and Alicia and other juveniles were in the basement and elsewhere. Daisy scratched on the back door to be let out. Unawares of the broken fence/chewed collar situation, my mother let Daisy out in the back yard to relieve herself. And off she went.

As soon as the proud puppy owners were aware of Daisy's escape they were off hunting for her. Frustration started to grow as it was dinner time and everyone was hungry. Jeff stayed behind to start the dinner (steaks on the grill) while my mom and I assisted in other kitchen duties.

About a half an hour later Alicia came in the garage door with Daisy! The scoundrel had been caught. But at the same moment they came in the front of the house, my brother came in from his back porch BBQ grilling duties and left the sliding door partially open.

Can you guess what that darn dog did? Yep. She ran straight through the house and was gone again in the blink of an eye!

My brother swore as Daisy disappeared into the dark back yard and then took off after her.

My sister-in-law took off after him, worried he would slip and fall on the ice because he was so angry.

My dad, whose knees are nearing operation replacement, went hobbling after them on the search.

My mother asked me to take her back to the hotel because the stress was too much.

So we left my 14-yr. old niece there to babysit the kids while I took my mom to the hotel. When I got back I found Kitty in charge of four younger kids (including disabled Harrison). My niece and Patch had gone out searching ,too. A few minutes later Patch and my niece returned and I assessed that (now that it was 8 pm) the kids were all stressed and very hungry. We ordered pizza and then I knelt the kids down in a circle and we asked Heavenly Father to help find Daisy and calm everyone down.

Within 15 minutes my brother returned with Daisy. A definite miracle! He must have caught her about the time we finished our prayer. Isn't the faith of little children wonderful?

Daisy remained tightly locked in the house for the remainder of our Denver vacation.

Scripture of the Day: 1 Ne. 10:19

Year of Miracles #39

This week my miracle was easy to spot. I had been sick for five days with that bad cold that seemed like it would not ever drain. My sinuses had been so packed and were making me feel lousy (sorry about all that whining I did about them, by the way). On Sunday evening I had a priesthood blessing to help me feel better. By the next morning I was draining and my sinuses were SO much clearer. By Tuesday I was pretty much all better. Thank heaven for the power of the priesthood!

Scripture of the Day: Moroni 10:7

Year of Miracles #38

Three "mini" miracles for this week. Maybe these are silly little things, but my head is too stuffy to think of much else.

1. This week my hair color was on sale for a great deal (savings of $3). Then there was a coupon in the paper for an additional $2 off. Yay for saving $5 on something I needed to get done.

2. I finished up my manuscript and got it over to Mary to edit. This is something I have wanted to wrap up for more than a month now, so it feels miraculous to get this far. Many of the ideas in it were promptings from the spirit, too, so I feel really good about it.

3. My VT just happens to have snow boots and pants in Sweetie Peach and Kitty's sizes--I did not think hardly anyone in the Phoenix area had snow boots! Especially in kids' sizes. What's more, she is willing to let me borrow them. We need these for our trip we are taking to Denver later this week.

Bonus: Onehm had a good miraculous experience happen this past week. If you haven't read it yet, click here.

Scripture of the Day: Ether 12:6

Year of Miracles #37

Last month I blogged about miracles in relation to stem cell treatment for those with cerebral palsy. Our family joined in fasting with my brother Jeff's family to know if this was a course of treatment they should pursue for my nine-year-old nephew Harrison. That fast Sunday Jeff shared his testimony in his ward and briefly mentioned their desire to explore stem cell treatments for Harrison.

As Jeff and his family were leaving the ward building after church a fairly new member of the ward approached them. It turned out that this new member is a doctor and is in charge of a stem cell research study at a local hospital. His study was not in relation to CP, but this ward member asked if my brother's family would allow him to search out potentially appropriate research studies that may help Harrison. He has already met with their family and it looks as though a German facility may be the best option out there now. This was truly an answer to prayer and fasting for all of us.

Hopefully this will be "to be continued" with even more miracles! I will keep you updated.

For another remarkable miracle that happened this past week, visit Amazing Becky's blog and read this.

Scripture of the Day: Luke 21:8

Year of Miracles #36

This year one of the gifts I gave was an album of pictures from the life of my father-in-law who passed away last April. I spent probably 15 hours scanning in photos, uploading them to Shutterfly, organizing them, and then getting accurate caption information from my MIL.

I have to admit that I have not had very positive past feelings about my father-in-law. Without going into detailed explanation, there were simply some things I did not agree with in regard to his attitude and behavior. Although I disagreed with him I tried hard not to let this prevent us from having a positive relationship and things were pretty good between us.

But as I worked on this album a little miracle happened. I could really feel my heart softening toward my father-in-law. I did not learn much new about him, or come to understand his motivations for his behavior better. But I was definitely touched by the Spirit as I worked on the album. And I became grateful for his willingness to work hard for his family his whole life, the many family trips he took his kids on, and the efforts he made to help his kids make good choices for their future. I guess the Spirit of Elijah helped to turn my heart more toward him.

Scripture of the Day: D&C 2

Year of Miracles #35

Two money-saving miracles this week:

1. I filled up my minivan gas tank (17+ gallons) for under $25 on Thursday. I was shocked! I think it has been more than five years since I have been able to do that. Am I remembering correctly...?

2. Remember how my washer and dryer have been breaking down every so often this past year? I think the washer has broken down twice this year and the dryer was out of commission for more than a month early this past year. Well, I had just invoiced a client with the intention of using the funds to buy a new set (or a reconditioned set). But then two days ago an e-mail was sent out by the RS president -- a family in our ward had a set (working) they did not need and wondered if anyone needed them. As soon as I saw the e-mail I called them up and was able to secure them for us. Yesterday my hubby went and picked them up. They still need to be installed, but I am really grateful for the savings this affords.

Year of Miracles #34

This marks my 250th post (which is a miracle in itself)!

This weeks miracle was related by a sweet sister, Annette, in my ward as she spoke in sacrament meeting today. As a young couple still in college, she and her husband were struggling financially to meet tuition, pay their bills, and still afford diapers for their baby. Annette's parents had to move out of country and were unable to take their food storage with them; part of the the food storage was parceled to Annette and her husband. In her talk she mentioned how grateful they were for the food and used it quite often to help keep their grocery bills as low as possible.

After a while Annette's husband graduated and got a good job here in Arizona. They moved to a nicer home and were finally able to live off of an income that was generous enough to meet their family needs without too much stress.

Shortly after moving Annette and her husband opened another of the cans of food storage only to discover it had gone bad. In fact, it looked as though the food had been inedible for quite a while. This was surprising considering the other cans had been perfectly fine. Annette realized the food had been good only as long as she and her family had truly needed it and felt this had been a blessing from the Lord who watches over us all and knows our needs. She also directly attributed this miracle to be the result of consistently paying a full tithing.

Scripture of the Day: Luke 2:17

Year of Miracles #33

Harrison and his parents

This week I was able to see some true miracles that have happened. None of these miracles happened to anyone I know personally, but the fact that they have happened may greatly impact my nephew tremendously.

My nephew Harrison has cerebral palsy. He is nine-year-old and has great difficulty with his muscle control. Although his verbal skills are ever improving, he still has a hard time speaking. He cannot walk or sit up on his own. But despite all of his challenges he is wonderful to be around. His personality can light up a room.

For the past few weeks my brother and sister-in-law (Harrison's parents) have been learning more and more about the positive impact cord blood stem cells can have in treating children with cerebral palsy. Evidence of the benefits--miracles of advancement in medicine--have been documented in news stories that are now on You-Tube (here and here).

The possibility that Harrison's capabilities may be even somewhat improved through these new treatments is wonderful and exciting. Today our family joined with theirs in fasting for guidance in seeking out potential treatments in this new area of medicine. Hopefully this will lead to a new miracle or two to share in the future.

Scripture of the Day: Luke 2:11