Thanksgiving. A day of gratitude. I have many, many things to be thankful for. My family, friends, neighbors, children, our home, our blessings, my Savior, the Plan of Salvation, temples, and the list goes on.
What I wanted to touch on were two of the tender mercies I’ve experienced as of late. I’m sure these few don’t even touch the tip of the iceberg, but I am ever mindful of The Lord’s hand in my life. I pray that I recognize it so I can be grateful for the help along the way.
One of the very first tender mercies I experienced while Lion was with us happened in the hospital. After being awake for basically twenty-four hours and giving birth and all that other fun stuff, I was surprised at how quickly I recovered, physically. Everyone around me also verbalized it. The recovery nurses were surprised at how quickly my body began returning to normal. Everyone said that I didn’t look like I had just given birth. The only real noticeable thing was after the first day, my ankles and feet swelled up.
It was a huge tender mercy to physically recover as quickly as I could. I can’t imagine trying to deal with everything on top of having the recovery I did with Tigger (even though it wasn’t as bad as it could have been). So any time someone told me I didn’t look like I had just had a baby, I smiled and said it’s a tender mercy. And truly it was.
For what seemed liked months, it was probably only a month or two, people continued to compliment me on how I looked. I still viewed it as a tender mercy, but there was a little pain in my heart. I would have much rather looked like I had just had a baby so in a way I had something to “show” for it. That probably sounds weird, but that’s the way my brain went.
Then when I didn’t (still can’t) fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans, it’s even harder to swallow. I know I shouldn’t be thinking that way. I know it really doesn’t matter and that at the time I needed to be able to be up and moving around, but . . .
The other huge tender mercy I’ve noticed a lot in the past several months is my patience level. I have been able to put up with so much from Tigger. Even when I knew my fuse was short it seemed like I had a little bit left when I know normally I would have blown up.
That has continued with everyone in my life. There has been an extra measure of patience. I know it’s a tender mercy, but I also can’t help but wonder if it’s partially because I have a different perspective on things now. I try to remember that who knows if this is the last time I’ll be able to stay up with a screaming child or the last time Hubby does something that drives me nuts. You just don’t know.
Now that I look back of the months before Lion joined our family, I realized that a lot of my responses to things were just that. Someone at church asked a question on how to handle something in particular with her children. I remember saying that you should try to learn to love it because who knows when that will be the last time you pick up their dirty socks, or something like that. There were several situations similar to that and my response centered around the same thing. In a way, that was a tender mercy too. My mind had already begun to think that way even if I didn’t recognize it. Another tender mercy.
So, enjoy the little things that normal drive you crazy. When you change your perspective it makes them much more enjoyable. Life is good. Watch for the tender mercies in your life, and remember to be grateful for them. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment