A sparrow shall not fall

Elder David Bednar taught us: "I have come to better understand that the Lord’s tender mercies are the very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurances, guidance, loving-kindnesses, consolation, support, and spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Truly, the Lord suits “his mercies according to the conditions of the children of men” (D&C 46:15)."

This morning I randomly woke up in the early hours of the morning, I was awake enough realize that my alarm clock hadn't gone off yet so I didn't need to be awake and decided to go back to sleep when I thought came into my head to double check that my alarm clock was turned on. So I did and sure enough it wasn't. I turned it on and gratefully went back to sleep.  To some that may be nothing more than a coincidence or me subconsciously remembering that I had turned my alarm clock off over Thanksgiving and hadn't turned in on, but to me it was a tender mercy of the Lord. As presumptions as it may sound I believe that the All-Powerful Creator of the Universe cares whether I remembered to turn my alarm clock on or not and if I would sleep in and be late for work. Not because that is a particularly important thing, but because He loves me as He loves all of us and if we pay attention we will see signs of His love in every part of our lives.

Home is... where exactly?

I've been thinking lately about how I used the word 'home.'  For example I spent Thanksgiving at my parent's home in Ohio and in conversation I referred to it as 'going home for Thanksgiving' even though I haven't really lived there since I was 18 (which was more years ago then I care to admit) so is it really 'home'? As I drove to my parents house and saw the familiar streets and landscapes my mind was flooded with memories of growing up and the time I spend there with my parents and brothers had the familiar feeling of being 'home'.

As I drove back and walked into my cozy little apartment in PA I called my boyfriend and announced that I was 'home.' Curling up on my couch, cooking on my kitchen, talking about anything and everything with Justin also had the unmistakable feeling of being 'home'.

About a year ago I went back to visit my alma mater and remember I was wandered around the campus and town and checked in with the professors that were my mentors and best friends I also had that comfortable, safe, and happy feeling of being 'home'.

So where exactly is my home? Maybe the clique 'home is where the heart is' has some truth to it and my heart is slip up in various locations and I have many places to call home.

Thanksgiving #7

Thanksgiving #6

Today I am grateful for the maintenance guys in my apartment complex who always cheerfully and promptly help me out with my little domestic disasters. I got home from work to find a note from the maintenance guys letting me know they had worked on my kitchen sink and it was "draining good now" and it made me smile.

Someday I wold love to own my own home, but for now I am very glad to have help keeping everything in working order.

Thanksgiving #5

I am thankful for local church leaders. I am thankful for all the time and effort that they put into their callings with no pay, no recognition, and plenty of complaints, criticisms, and heartaches. We just had Stake Conference this weekend and I am thankful for all the stake leaders who do so much work behind the scenes when no one even realizes what they are doing. I am always thankful for my amazing branch president: I am thankful for how much he can make me laugh, I am thankful for how easy it is to feel his love for all of us, and I am thankful for how hard he pushes us to do our very best and how clearly he sees our potential when we don't understand it ourselves.

Thanksgiving #4

I was trying to make this posts about the little things I'm grateful for; the things I don't normally think about, but today I can't resist and I'm going to go for one of the big, more predictable thing.

I am thankful for my boyfriend. I've been getting over a minor cold these past few days and yesterday he picked me up from work and spent the evening with me. We made dinner together and then we were just hanging out and talking when the exhaustion of my full week of work and fighting off a cold caught up with me. So, my boyfriend wrapped me up in a blanket, went into the kitchen made us smoothies then held me while we watched what he calls an "Amber movie." I felt cared for, happy, and safe. Somehow it didn't seem right to write about anything else today. So, I apologize for my sappy, self-indulgent post today.

Thanksgiving #3

I am thankful for great books. For the stories that change the way you look at the world. For the characters that reflect your own strengths and weaknesses back to you from the pages. For the masterful sentences and paragraphs that you read over and over again just to revel in the shear beauty of the language.

I'm thankful to my parents who exposed me to the joy of reading in my childhood and for my boyfriend who will randomly call me in the middle of his literature homework to share some particularly beautiful passage with me.