Random Thoughts for the Week

The past few weeks have been very challenging for me physically and emotionally. When I got home for Christmas I was able to see how much my mama's condition was affecting her and that was hard to see and deal with emotionally because Mama has always been healthy and strong and she wasn't able to do much and then physically taxing to get everything ready for everyone. By the way I won't be wrapping presents for a long time! I told Mama right after Cyndi left on Sunday that I wanted to take it really easy the next week and as most of you know Grannie collapsed the very next day and Mama left the next day. The next week felt like a month - not so much because of the kids but because emotionally it was so hard and then so hard to be away from what was happening, not say good-bye or attend the funeral. I was so grateful that I was able to stay and watch the kids for Mama and help them have some normalcy, this was the first time that they were apart from both parents for any length of time and I think the first time they have been away from Mama for more than a few days. They were scared and showed it in normal 5 and 7 year old ways like being whiny, fighting, attaching themselves physically to my side, etc. and I was trying hard to be patient and loving (I need some work in this area when I am stressed, tired, not feeling well, worried about someone dying and those left behind, and being so sad myself).
This weeks hasn't been much better. I left on Tuesday and the Lord blessed me to get home relatively quickly with an additional stop in OK. But I came home very tired and started my job the next day and so I got to bed as soon as possible and then woke up and went to work the next day. Each night I had things I had to accomplish (like unpacking, putting Christmas up, etc.) and would fall into bed around 11 and then get up again. Friday we worked on the Primary activity and then Saturday we were at the church at 8am setting up for it. It turned out great and we had over 80 kids and then the teachers, parents, leaders, etc. We ate a whole lot of little smokies and cinnamon rolls.
With all of that I have been so blessed. The Lord has blessed my body to be strong, to get good sleep (this usually doesn't happen), to be able to just continue and I am so grateful.
While I was driving home I was listening to parts of the last GC on CD and got thinking about that talk by Elder Bednar a few years ago about the Lord's Tender Mercies (I think it was Oct 2006) and all the little mercies I had seen in such a short period of time. The Sunday that I got home we had a family fast for Mama that she would be able to feel better and participate in daily life and the Christmas celebrations. That day she started to feel better and that has been sustained throughout Grannie's hospitlization and death - I am so very grateful to the Lord for this great blessing! Other mercies like a great boss that allowed me to stay and take care of the kids and start my job later than planned, an incredible amount of peace and love felt during the time while Mama was gone, the power of the hymns and primary songs as the kids and I sang to make us less sad, the power of prayer that we can ask and be blessed with comfort, a wonderful family that pulls together in crisis, the list goes on and on and I feel so blessed.