If you're not religious, you might not appreciate this post as much I do. That's alright with me.
Today in Relief Society I had the amazing experience of listening to a wonderful lesson, and to be surrounded by fantastic people, my sisters of Zion. The lesson was on "Listening To the Holy Spirit". As the lesson was being taught, there were many different points where I thought of certain situations I have been in that have testified to me that I am a member of the one and only true church. I'm not sure why I thought to blog about these experiences...I normally don't share such things as this. But, I figured I should listen to what randomly pops in my head, for all I know, it could've been the spirit speaking to me, because maybe someone who is reading this needs these stories for their own testimony. Only He knows.
I am not the typical mormon girl. I am not always sweet and nice, I, most of the time, am very sarcastic and blunt. (heaven bless me to find a husband to handle this...(; ) I'm not always the most thoughtful person, but I do strive and work towards being thoughtful every day. I don't always feel like going to church, but when I do, it's the best times of my life. The H word may slip sometimes, when I am surprised, scared, or mad..but that does not mean I'm going there. I am who I am, and I strive to be better every day.
Sorry about the lengthiness of this post...yikes.
The first story goes back to when I was about 9 or 10. It was when I lived in my old house on Gubler Drive. I had one of those Italian Charm Bracelets..ya know the ones that are like chain links? That would stretch and pinch your wrist. Ya know what I'm sayin ;) Well, one day Amy came over to play with me, we had gone out into the back yard and I was trying to put a new charm on my mom and dad had given me. I couldn't quite get it, so Amy tried, her attempt failed also. So I tried one more time, and I let go of the charm and it went flying into the grass around us. We couldn't find it for the longest time...we looked for about 20 minutes before I thought of saying a prayer. We both knelt down and I offered a prayer to Heavenly Father to help me find this charm. I opened my eyes, looked to the side of me, and there it lay. My charm. As ridiculous and small this was, it still spoke to me of how God is always watching out for us, no matter what.
My second story happened about a year ago...I was in the middle of adding things to my room, to match my growth in my tastes and styles. It was around 8:00pm and I was out on the side of my house spray painting picture frames and other odd things black. There was A LOT of spray paint involved. I went to bed with a very stuffy nose and a bit of a headache from all the paint fumes. In the middle of the night I woke up with my first ever, migraine. I literally thought I had a tumor, or something lethal, inside of me and I was about to die. I got up, went to my mom, she gave me some ibuprofens. It did nothing, after a few hours of suffering I finally told my mom to go get my daddy. I needed a blessing. My dad came in, and laid his hands on my head, gave me a simple blessing, and the second he said Amen, every pain in my body was gone. I was calm. And fell right to sleep after that. This experience spoke volumes to me of the power of the priesthood. I've always wanted a husband that is worthy of the priesthood..but this experience concreted that standard for me.
The third story took place a few years ago. Our family had a year from hell. We lost our cousin/nephew in a tragic car accident. Then 6 months later we lost our Grandma Tanner. 9 days later, our Grandpa Tanner past. The funerals took a toll on everyone involved. And changed the dynamic of the relationships with everyone in the extended family. On top of all of this, my immediate family was having financial problems. I was having troubles at school for being gone so much..my grades were tanking...my boyfriend was causing drama as well...just so many things were on my plate and I was going to break. One sunday, I went to the college ward that started at 9:00, and my family went to the family ward which started at 11:00. When I got home from church I had a couple of hours before my family got out of church. So I went for a drive..I kept driving all over. I found myself driving to Gunlock and into the middle of no where. I parked my car, picked up my scriptures, and just started reading and praying. I eventually started to bawl...the spirit was so strong, I could feel Christ's arms around me comforting me. It was one of the most beautiful things that has ever happened to me.
My fourth story actually happened today. It is small, and not that big of deal. But it meant everything to me. Here's a bit of a back story...my tires are completely bare..and if they are not warranted, to replace them it will cost me $80.00 EACH tire. Not to mention, my tags are expired. But, I cannot register my car until it can pass inspection, which with bare tires, there's no chance. For the past few weeks I have been driving very careful and dodging cops left and right, to make sure they do not get behind me and notice my plates. Today, I was driving down Bluff street on my way to the Institute building for church, when I passed a cop on the Blvd getting ready to turn left onto Bluff. I only had to make it to 100 South before he caught up to me. I got into the left turn lane and the light turned green, I turned. I was home free! Except, I looked in my rear view mirror to see the Officer waiting to turn...I watched him for a second as I thought to myself "I've gotta turn down a side road and lose him. I'll take the sacrifice of being late to church, it's okay. I got this." Right when I turned my blinker on a car sped past the Officer and he took off after that car, which saved me a nasty ticket on top of the cost of registration and my possibly unwarranted tires. Again, this only proved to me that God is my father, and I am his child, and that he loves and cares for me more than I can ever imagine. And he understood what I was going through and that I could not afford a ticket on top of my expenses I already have. I am eternally grateful to Him, forever and always.
No comments:
Post a Comment