tender mercies

Back at the April 2005 General Conference, Elder Bednar gave a talk entitled:

"The Tender Mercies of the Lord." 

Here is the link to the entire talk:

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2005/04/the-tender-mercies-of-the-lord?lang=eng&query=elder+tender+mercies+(name%3a%22David+A.+Bednar%22)

And this is a "Mormon Messages" video with clips from the talk:

I remember his talk making me think about the blessings I've been given even back then (7 years ago - holy cow!), but I've been thinking even more about it recently.

I wanted to share a couple of quotes from that talk:

"The Lord’s tender mercies are the very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurances, guidance, loving-kindnesses, consolation, support, and spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ.

"The Lord’s tender mercies do not occur randomly or merely by coincidence. Faithfulness and obedience enable us to receive these important gifts and, frequently, the Lord’s timing helps us to recognize them."

What an amazing blessing?! He testified that God knows us, loves us, and is willing to bless us as we remain faithful and obedient to His commandments. He has the perfect timing, and knows what we need at exactly the right time. There have been times in my life where I wasn't sure if that was true or not, but lately I have felt like He is so aware of me and my individual needs, and I can't deny that these tender mercies are real, and very powerful.

For example, we all know that teachers don't go into the profession for the money (obviously), and receiving such a small paycheck can be a little bit stressful at times, especially over the summer while we're not "working" (let's be honest - teachers are always working!). I was overwhelmed at the thought of having to buy all the things for my new classroom on a shoe-string budget, AND pay for everything else. I am not given any money for school supplies nor provided any, so this was going to be especially difficult. The Lord obviously knew that this was important to me, and He made a way for me to meet all of my financial responsibilities. Things just went my way on several occasions, and I couldn't help but think that a greater power or influence was guiding my life.

Another is example is with getting a teaching job. After having such a poor experience with my first teaching job this past semester, I was concerned that first, I shouldn't even be a teacher anymore, and second, would anyone even hire me?!?! This was overwhelming and exhausting to worry about all day, every day. Things aligned once again for me to teach at my top choice school, and even though I had to "sweat it out" for about 6 weeks, I found that I'm exactly where I need to be at this moment in time. I don't think that it was only me that helped me get the job - I think Heavenly Father was instrumental in making that happen.

These are just two of the many examples I could talk about that have happened recently - I could probably go on for a while more :)

Elder Bednar mentioned in his talk that sometimes we feel like we don't deserve to receive Heavenly Father's blessings, for whatever reason. I've definitely been there too, but it was reassuring to know that Elder Bednar testifies that "the tender mercies of the Lord are real and that they do not occur randomly or merely by coincidence." We receive these tender mercies for a reason, even if we don't know why.

I just felt like I needed to get these thoughts down. Sometimes it's helpful to look back at a time when the Lord lifted me up, especially during tough times.

I know Heavenly Father loves me. I hope that everyone else can come to know that for themselves.

xoxo, Neelam