Monday, October 21, 2013

Clutching Tightly to God's Messages

Last night we were happily eating dinner when my 5-year old Mariah leaned way over another chair and quietly said to me,  "Mommy, did you know that Jesus is a lot closer to you than you think right now?"

I said, "Oh yes, Mariah.  I know.  Thank you for that wonderful message.  What made you think to say that just now?  Did you talk about that in church?"

She replied, "No.  It was just something that popped into my head to tell you."

After dinner, a sister from church showed up at my house.  I didn't even know her very well, and we don't live very close to each other.  She was wearing her pajamas and holding a gift for me.

(She creates and sells t-shirts with positive messages - www.madetoshirts.com.  She felt prompted to give one to me!)

Not knowing any of my issues, this was her message for me:





I thanked her with all my heart.  I looked down and noticed I had a very tight clutch on the shirt against my chest, and I wasn't planning on letting it go any time soon.  It made me happy to remember that God made me tough enough to do the things that are hard... even when they keep piling up.  My friend said it is my cape.  My cape of strength and remembrance of how God made me.

Let me tell you about this sister :

She has two small children.  She's pregnant!  She works 12-hour shifts as a nurse.  She runs a t-shirt business.  She is helping her husband kickstart his children's books series.... AND.... on top of it all.... she isn't afraid to follow a prompting to serve another.

Escaping the temptation to drown in depressing thoughts is very difficult some days, but God does not leave us alone.

I am so very, very grateful for the many beautiful ways that God keeps pulling us up to where HE wants us to be.  Others may give up on us, but HE never does.  HE sees the greatness in us.  HE sees our talents and abilities as untarnished beauties.  He sees us as valuable contributors in HIS Kingdom.  HE remembers who we really are.  "Jesus is a lot closer to (us) than (we) think."

2 comments:

  1. I loved reading this post. It's a great reminder to me to listen and act upon the prompting that I receive. Your daughter is SO sweet and I'm impressed that she shared the thought that "popped" into her head. And it always AMAZES me to hear about the miracles that take place when people listen to the promptings that they receive. Always remember the scripture: “Peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment” (D&C 121:7–8) You will because stronger because of this experience that you are having AND you are "made to do hard things". Hang in there. :)

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    1. Thank you, thank you, thank you from the deepest parts of my heart. I can't tell you how much I love this scripture. How loving, kind, and Christlike of you to share it. Thank you so much also for your sweet comments. ~much love to you.

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