Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch our family today?

“If we could follow the slogan that says,"Turn off the TV and open a good book" we would do something of substance for a future generation.”
― Gordon B. Hinckley

Sorry for the sporadic posts, I know that everyone understands how busy Christmas time becomes.  With school finals on top of that it is crazy!!  I have quite a bit to blog about and don't really know where to start.      I feel like it important for me to first off and talk about something very dear to my heart, my journal or what you find here as my blog.  I really love my blog and feel that it has become a way for me to find opportunities to recognize the blessings that I have in my life.  I remember when I was in Franklin Park Relief Society and Miranda Leavitt had given a lesson on Henry B Eyring's talk "O Remember, Remember". I remember the feeling of where the spirit testifies the truthfulness of the importance of what a servant of the Lord is saying.  What struck out to me most about Miranda's lesson is that she allowed us to rewatch this October 2007 conference talk and allowed the spirit to teach us of the things we needed to know individually.  When I found out I was pregnant, I felt an urgent need to restart writing in my journal.  And each time I write in it I am reminded of President. Eyring's talk.  Through his simple testimony I have learned through my own experience of the recognition that comes.

He states, "When our children were very small, I started to write down a few things about what happened every day. Let me tell you how that got started. I came home late from a Church assignment. It was after dark. My father-in-law, who lived near us, surprised me as I walked toward the front door of my house. He was carrying a load of pipes over his shoulder, walking very fast and dressed in his work clothes. I knew that he had been building a system to pump water from a stream below us up to our property.

He smiled, spoke softly, and then rushed past me into the darkness to go on with his work. I took a few steps toward the house, thinking of what he was doing for us, and just as I got to the door, I heard in my mind—not in my own voice—these words: “I’m not giving you these experiences for yourself. Write them down.”

I went inside. I didn’t go to bed. Although I was tired, I took out some paper and began to write. And as I did, I understood the message I had heard in my mind. I was supposed to record for my children to read, someday in the future, how I had seen the hand of God blessing ourfamily. Grandpa didn’t have to do what he was doing for us. He could have had someone else do it or not have done it at all. But he was serving us, his family, in the way covenant disciples of Jesus Christ always do. I knew that was true. And so I wrote it down, so that my children could have the memory someday when they would need it.

I wrote down a few lines every day for years. I never missed a day no matter how tired I was or how early I would have to start the next day. Before I would write, I would ponder this question: “Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family today?” As I kept at it, something began to happen. As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done.

More than gratitude began to grow in my heart. Testimony grew. I became ever more certain that our Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. I felt more gratitude for the softening and refining that come because of the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ. And I grew more confident that the Holy Ghost can bring all things to our remembrance—even things we did not notice or pay attention to when they happened.

The years have gone by. My boys are grown men. And now and then one of them will surprise me by saying, “Dad, I was reading in my copy of the journal about when …” and then he will tell me about how reading of what happened long ago helped him notice something God had done in his day.

My point is to urge you to find ways to recognize and remember God’s kindness. It will build our testimonies. You may not keep a journal. You may not share whatever record you keep with those you love and serve. But you and they will be blessed as you remember what the Lord has done."

 My goal one day is to be on the ball to write in my journal the things that have happened throughout the day because in reading back from the journal entries I had as a youth, I see lessons I have learned and a greater understanding for the trials we each have to individually endure.  I know that President Eyring speaks truth in this because I feel closer to the Savior and Heavenly Father not only when i read my scriptures, say my prayers but also when I write down in my journal the things that have happened throughout my day.