Tag Archive for: tender mercy

Small and Simple Things

Time is precious for all of us, isn’t it?
Even more so when serving a mission.
Every minute of every day often has to be accounted for.
In my morning prayers I always ask that I may see the hand of the Lord manifest in some way.
Last Saturday, coming back from our weekly shopping, I mentioned to Monic that I really needed to get the car washed that day.
It had been several weeks since I’d last washed it, but sadly the local car wash had just been closed and there wasn’t another nearby, in fact its several miles away.
We had several other more important things to do on Saturday in preparation for a very busy weekend, and an even busier week ahead.
I never mentioned it again.
Within an hour, the doorbell rang.
Two teenage girls stood at the door.
They held up a home-made cardboard price list and said they were hoping to earn some holiday money by washing cars in the neighbourhood.
I readily agreed.
They set to work, and within 30 minutes the car was spotlessly clean.
We have lived in this house for 1 year, 10 months and 22 days or to be more precise 691 days.
Never before to our knowledge, had anyone come to the door, offering to wash the car.
But within minutes of our need, an answer came.
Yes, it’s a small and simple thing.
Coincidence – perhaps?
Tender mercy – perhaps?
You choose.
Small and simple things often happen in our life, but do we put them down to coincidence or are they a tender mercy from the Lord?
How have you seen the hand of the Lord in your life recently?

Coincidence or Tender Mercy?

Looking Back and Moving Forward.
When – April 2008 (16 years ago)
Where – Conference Centre, Salt Lake City, Utah.
What – General Conference Weekend
Who – the Kleijwegs and the Watsons
Why – I met Chris Kleijweg and Kenneth Johnson for the first time in October 2005, when they extended a call to me to serve as President of the Dundee Scotland Stake. A few weeks later Chris challenged me to attend General Conference with our new Stake Presidency, together with our wife’s.
A year passed by, and Chris’s church assignment changed.
We lost contact.
Little did he know that we were planning a trip to Salt Lake City for the conference sessions in the spring of 2008. It turned out to be the weekend when Thomas S. Monson was sustained as President of the Church.
And then the coincidence. Or was it?
Walking out of the conference centre, that holds 21,000 people, who do we bump into, in the crowds? – the Kleijweg’s!
It was a beautiful reunion.
Little did we know that they would be there!

Coincidence?

Recently, I shared this quote from Gerald N. Lund and I want to share it again… “Sometimes blessings come in such an unusual manner and with such precise timing that they accomplish something in addition to blessing us. They so clearly confirm the reality of God’s existence that they buoy us up in times of trials.”
I believe that a coincidence is not a coincidence when the Lord is involved in what happens. It is in fact His hand, His divine signature if you will.
He is much more involved in our daily lives than we give Him credit for. His Heavenly influence can and does impact the direction of people’s lives, and those things that move God’s work along amongst His children.
As the years passed by, we were both assigned in Public Affairs & Communications, in the UK and the Netherlands respectively.
Recently the roles were reversed, when I called Chris to be a counsellor in the Presidency of the Belgium Netherlands Mission, along with a new friend, Jurgen Hoole.
I know that some of the sweetest experiences in my life have come as I feel His promptings as He directs His work.
Likewise, I also know that when we are striving to do God’s will, He is anxious to bless each one of us with incredible “coincidences” – or in scriptural terms, “a tender mercy of the Lord”.
The Lord’s house is a house of order, and I know He is in charge.