tender mercies

My heart is very full today...Most of you know that I have been the CTR 8 teacher for the last couple of years in my ward. In fact I am pretty sure I've been in the primary longer than anyone else, and my veteran status was something I liked to boast about. It has been a fun, interesting, and ultimately rewarding calling. The kids start off in my class a little skeptical of me and my teaching methods, but about half-way through the year we seem to hit our stride and I love working with this age group. There are some kids who I am sure I will remember many years from now, for the things that they have taught me. They are inquisitive, smart, funny, and trouble-making little hellions. I have had the opportunity to go to many baptisms, work with many other teachers, and get back to the basics of the gospel. My mom always says that primary is the best calling, because you learn all the bare essentials, and then you sing about them.

So I was understandably upset when I learned a couple of weeks ago I would be getting a new calling...Like all good things, I knew it wouldn't last forever. It seems that whenever we get very comfortable in our lives, the Lord decides it's time for us to stretch our muscles, and break free from our familiar routine. I guess right now the Lord's idea of a "change" for me, means serving as 1st counselor in the Young Women's Presidency. I feel totally over-whelmed, and slightly in-over-my-head. What was He thinking? Of course I accepted the calling; we're taught to say "yes" in this church. I came home that night in a trance-like state, wondering how I had come to this point in my life? In an attempt to grasp onto something familiar, I randomly checked my blog, and found a comment waiting for me from my old Young Women's President.

Natalie and I have touched base occasionally over the years (she sold us our house), but she didn't know that on that particular day I needed some encouragement. I needed a tender mercy from the Lord. A tender mercy, is a gentle reminder that the Lord is watching over me. He knows me. He understands my needs. He accepts my faults, my frustrations, and my quiet yearnings. It's His way of giving me a gentle nudge forward, and the courage to try new things. I'm so grateful for tender mercies, and for this new opportunity to serve. I hope in some small way, He is looking down at me, and is proud of what He sees.

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"I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time." -Jack London