A Tender Mercy

A few weeks after the funeral my 13yr old van left me stranded out in the middle of nowhere with all my kids and my dog, when the alternator died. We had to pile into my friends car. It illustrated literally the saying “everybody and their dog", really well.

So I decided I needed a more reliable car. We were going to buy a newer one anyway, but were holding out just in case we outgrew it. Joseph was always convinced there were twins in our future, haha.

I bought a like new suburban, knowing full well there was no chance of ever parking it in my garage. One day, I pulled it into the driveway and as I was walking inside I heard my husband’s voice in my head say “it’ll totally fit". Thus began an internal struggle… I mean there’s no way it’ll fit… but maybe?… I mean he would know!

So Google said the 2019 model was 74.4 inches (The 2021 was 75.7. Whew!). My garage opening was almost 75 inches… if I measured right. So trusting my all to his tender care… I lined it up, held my breath and inched it closer and closer… and closer. My new car.

And truth be told it fit. I mean I did expect to hear metal scraping and prepared myself to have to explain to the neighbors or the insurance or the fire department the embarrassment of what I had done. But I didn’t have to! That day he showed me his love from a distance. That even in the small seemingly unimportant things, I am not alone. Now every time I pull into my garage, I find myself saying “I love that man!” (Usually followed by a sharp, sit down! The car isn’t off yet!)

I’ve felt Joseph around enough to know what it feels like when he’s near and what it feels like when he’s not. I’m grateful for the opportunity to recognize the handful of special moments I’ve had and how they seem to carry me through to the next one. God’s tender mercies are the same.

I echo what Elder David A. Bednar once said..

“The simpleness, the sweetness, and the constancy of the tender mercies of the Lord will do much to fortify and protect us in the troubled times in which we do now and will yet live. When words cannot provide the solace we need or express the joy we feel, when it is simply futile to attempt to explain that which is unexplainable, when logic and reason cannot yield adequate understanding about the injustices and inequities of life, when mortal experience and evaluation are insufficient to produce a desired outcome, and when it seems that perhaps we are so totally alone, truly we are blessed by the tender mercies of the Lord and made mighty even unto the power of deliverance”.

I’ve had moments throughout my life that I know were orchestrated by God himself. These experiences give me courage in knowing I’m not alone and peace in knowing that Joseph is right where he’s supposed to be. Even on the worst days, I can still find myself saying, in the same garage parking fashion, “I love my God”.