The 8 Miracles

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After writing this post recently about being so blessed, I thought I would be remiss if I did not list those blessing and miracles one by one.  I know that He has His hand in all and that He sometimes uses His earthly angels to fulfill His miracles.  I am eternally grateful for the blessings that He sent my way.  

1. The mod pack.  I took a steroid pack that eased the swelling and back pain just long enough to get me through the busiest part of the school year and registrations before my back got bad again.
2. When it got to the point that I was crawling, my husband ran into a friend of mine at the gas station.  She gave him the name of a massage therapist that does pressure point massage and helps to relieve sciatic pain.  After one of these massages, my pain was slightly relieved for a few days.  I was able to sit in a chair and eat with my family.  Needless to say, I scheduled another
3. A friend who is a physical therapist offered to come to our home for free and show me some basic moves that might help.  This is who showed me that lying on my stomach might be the most comfortable for my bulging discs and pain.  This is basically where I remained until surgery.
4. When I called for a consultation with the surgeon, I was told they were booked out till January (this was the beginning of September) but had just had a cancellation in mid October.  They put me at the bottom of the cancellation list.
5. Four hours later, I received a call from the Neurosurgeon's office.  The receptionist said, "You wouldn't believe it, but I have been through my whole cancellation list and you were the only one who answered the phone.  We can see you tomorrow morning."  
6. I was told that insurance approval could take 10-14 business days.  I got approval in one and my surgery 4 days after approval.
7. I got paid my full paycheck despite being out of work for three weeks and not having sick days since I'm only part time.  What can I say...they love me.  
8. Quick recovery...I was back to work one week after my surgery.  Though I have to be careful and modify what I do, I see this as another miracle.  

During the course of some of my reading over the past few months, I learned that 8 is a significant number in Christianity.  What I read regarding it's significance is that God created the world in 6 days and rested on the 7th.  The 8th day was for rebirth.  Thus, many ancient baptismal fonts are 8 sided, an octagon.  After these 8 miracles, I feel reborn physically and spiritually and thus the rebirth of my blogging, as well.   

Have you seen the influence of God working in your life, too?

 

Back Pain AKA a Spiritual Experience

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The last few months have been a difficult experience for me.  I'm not going to complain about my back pain, I've done that before, but I am going to share an experience that I felt was spiritual in nature related to my back pain.

Back a few years ago, I receive a blessing that stated that I would live a life relatively free from pain as long as I was faithful.  That is a blessing I have always truly treasured.  What could be better?  Free from pain!  But, recently, I had found my faith in Him wavering as I struggled with this back pain.  I didn't understand how I could serve Him, be faithful and still have this back pain.  I just didn't get it.  What did I do wrong?  What wasn't I doing?

When I had my MRI and three bulging discs were discovered, my doctor said to me, "I don't know how you aren't in more pain than you are!"  I mean, I get up every day...Shower, perform a chore or two, I had figured out a way to cook dinner while sitting on a stool in the kitchen.  I was still doing and trying to be cheerful despite my issue.  He mentioned that a lot of people with bulging discs, especially three, don't even get out of bed and here I was doing...It was then that I had a spiritual epiphany, that despite my pain, my Heavenly Father quite literally had my back.  Even though I am not pain free, I am relatively free from the type of pain that I could have.  It could be worse if I didn't have Him in my life and I am so grateful for that!

Have you found gratitude through your trials?

 

Car Accidents and Blessings

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I may have griped about it earlier this month, but Military Man was in a car accident in Albuquerque.  He was stopped on an off ramp in traffic when an 18 year old came barreling down and hit him going an estimated 40 to 50 mph subsequently pushing TJ into the vehicle in front of him.

I experienced a Mother's gut-wrenching, soul draining fear when I received that call from the side of the highway almost 1,000 miles away.  I felt so helpless to help.  I was so worried.  I know that this whole experience is a true miracle.  He has a second family in Albuquerque that has all but adopted him.  They took him to the hospital and watched him the whole weekend after the accident.  I'm grateful to them and the fact that he is healthy and pain free today, a little over a month later.  His car sustained over $8,000 in damage yet his frame was not touched.  He loves his car and was so worried that it would be "totaled".  The insurance company decided not to total it but instead invest that $8,000 into fixing his car.

I know miracles happen.  TJ basically walking away from that accident was a miracle, and the fact that he got HIS car back is a miracle.  I'm grateful for these tender mercies from a loving Heavenly Father.

A Christmas Miracle

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I have this story to tell, but it's not really mine to tell.  But, I will tell you anyway...(names have been withheld to protect the identity of the innocent).  Now this story has been passed down from brother in law, to husband to myself which, obviously, is not first hand knowledge.

But once upon a time, in the area called the Midwest  a family dear to us was robbed.  When I say robbed, their home was robbed, trashed and ransacked.  This sweet family, during the Christmas season, had their home and their lives violated in a most disconcerting way.  Gratefully, from what I understand, no one was home at the time or this may be a VERY different Christmas story.  But they still had to deal with the insecure feeling of having had someone break into their home and pick up the pieces and the mess left behind.

Shortly after the robbery, and a report to the police, said robber was in a car accident with a car full of the goods.  The robber was identified through the stolen items in the car.  This sweet family has had nearly everything returned.  How often does that happen?  I mean besides when Miguel had his car broken into and HE got his stuff back.  But, really?  Not very often.  I know Heavenly Father was looking out for them.  Some might say it is Karma or just bum luck for that robber.  But, I know differently.  That was a true blessing...A Christmas Miracle...

And, ye who shall be called nameless, if you are reading...feel free to add more details.  This is all we've heard from Uncle J.  

Counting My Blessings

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We have been so blessed to have a son serving the Lord on a Mission.  I'll share with you a couple of humbling experiences, that I am so grateful for...

1.  Our air conditioner broke in the middle of summer.  Yikes!  You know those things can be quite costly especially considering it is a twelve years old unit.  My husband opened the thing up, talked to a couple of people, made a call and wala purchased a part for $20 and it worked.  I know that he was inspired by Heavenly Father.

2.  Miguel sent us a letter saying he needed a couple more pairs of nice pants.  He was swinging and decided to do a flip off of a swing and ripped his pants down the leg.  A lady at church said she could fix it, but he still felt like he could use a few more pairs.  The same day we got that letter, we received an unexpected check in the mail for $100 which just covered his pants, alterations and shipping.

I know that while we are financially and emotionally supporting our son while out serving the Lord, the Lord is financially blessing us and emotionally supporting us in Miguel's absence.  I am feeling so grateful and humbled for these tender mercies.

Air conditioning an entitlement or a blessing?

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When I was a kid, air conditioning was something of a rarity. As a small child, I recall sitting in front of one of those tacky window air conditioners. It was in our dining room pointing toward the living room. It was the coolest place in the house. I would sit and play blocks and little people for hours letting that air cool my skin. We didn't even have air conditioners in our cars. If I wanted to cool off, I would lay my face against the window glass in the car. It was always just a bit cooler than my face...I heard a comedian once joke about his mother soaking a cloth diaper in ice water to put on their necks and head in the car. I laughed, hard, because I could totally see that happening.

We moved away from that house, but still didn't have the most desired AC. We used oscillating fans to cool the house. I can still remember the hum and shudder of that fann in my room. Lying in my bed for an afternoon nap, that fan would turn, shudder and blow cool air across my small overheated body. The sound was lulling. Nap time wasn't something that I dreaded. Sometimes I long to hear it again, that old fan, though I'm sure it is sitting in a dump somewhere in California.

As a teenager, we moved into a new home and had that beloved AC installed. It was wonderful, but I didn't think twice about it. It became something expected. We moved from our air conditioned homes to our ac'd cars and into the lovely cool stores or offices. Rarely does the heat overwhelm.

I find myself now retreating outdoors into the heat of the summer, letting that summer sun warm and bake my skin into a sweat. When I return indoors the air conditioning, caresses my body. I appreciate the cool air. I realize that the air conditioning isn't just an entitlement, but truly a blessing.

Reflecting on Blessings

Let me preface my reminisce here with a little "You won't get this often from me". I am a spiritual person, but I tend to "hide my light" sort of thing. I keep my personal uplifting stories to myself. But, in reflecting on this experience, I felt it expedient to share it. I don't know why, maybe if only to remind myself I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who is mindful of even me and my own. So having said that, I was thinking back just this week to three years ago. A scary experience in my family brought with it great blessings and solidified our testimonies and faith. At the age of seven, my sweet little girl's eyes suddenly crossed. I couldn't quite pinpoint what was wrong at first. I'd look at her while she was talking to me, but she couldn't look me in the eye. She would look off to the side. (I later found out that she was looking at my double). Her eyes weren't so blatantly crossed at first, so I wasn't sure, but I had an uneasy feeling. My feelings were confirmed when her teacher came to me (I work at her school) and asked if Nicole got hit in the head over the weekend, because her eyes weren't right. It was at that moment that the panicked mommy feeling kicked in. I grabbed a phone book and started making calls. I went first to our optometrist, which really wasn't the right choice. So, he referred me on to an ophthalmologist who specialized in children. This all took place over the course of several weeks. The agony and worry was incredible. When I finally got into our specialist, she took one look at her and said we need to do an MRI. She was fairly certain that the root cause was a brain tumor. She said this just doesn't happen in 7 year olds unless it is a tumor. I was devastated, terrified, shocked and suspicions confirmed all at the same time as Nicole has suffered from migraines since like the age of two. We as a family turned to the Lord. We prayed for her and asked for a miracle. We fasted and she received a Priesthood blessing from her father and grandfather. We made plans to shave our heads if it became necessary so she wouldn't feel funny. (Well, I did at least, Kevin is too worried about his looks). On the day of the MRI, we tried to push out the fear and replace it with hope. As I held my daughter's hand while they put in the IV sedation needle, tears rolled down her face, but not a sob escaped her. I was stifling my own sobs, They wheeled my sleepy girl away, and I closed my eyes and said one last prayer. KT and I held hands trying to support each other in at what we felt was one of the darkest moments of our life. As they wheeled her out, I imploring looked to the technician and asked her, "I know you aren't supposed to tell me, but, please, what did you see?" She indicated that she couldn't say for certain, but "NOTHING" she saw nothing! I knew that was our miracle. Our doctor was grateful, but dumbfounded and wanted to check with several colleagues to be sure. Needless to say, their diagnosis was the same, "NOTHING". She subsequently had eye surgery to correct the issue and hasn't had any problems since. (The surgery was minor compared to the fear of the MRI and it's potential results). This "NOTHING" was something to our family. I am grateful to a loving Heavenly Father that saw fit to allow me more time with my beautiful little girl. For that I am eternally grateful.