Appreciating Tender Mercies

Sometimes God just seems to say to me, "I love you, and you're doing a great job, and here's what you get for it.....", followed by a tender mercy, a blessing specialized for my personal needs at the time. Some might deem these moments as coincidences, but not me, because I prayed for them, or John or my mom or my sister prayed for them for me, and God granted them to me in the form of blessings He had waiting for me, but was just waiting for me to ask.

That's not to say that God doesn't love us when he gives us challenges. In fact, I believe it's quite the opposite. He gives us challenges to help refine us, empower us, humble us and help us to be more compassionate and empathetic. But that's the hard part.

Sometimes He just wants to give us a break. So look what he did for me recently in the middle of the afternoon, something that hasn't happened since last year....

I had just put Baby Hippo to sleep, had put THIS MOVIE on for the kids and was getting ready to play the piano for the local high school choir when I looked over to see that all of the little ones at home had quietly fallen asleep in the living area of the kitchen. I just stood there, staring at them in awe, wondering what I could have done to be so lucky. Then I realized that this was a gift from God, one that I could and should take advantage of, so I did. As I stood gazing at the angels (because all kids look like angels when they're sleeping), I decided that I would use this free gift of time to do something that wouldn't be undone in an hour, or a day or even a week. I wasn't going to fold clothes, or wash dishes, or make my bed, or sweep the floor. I was going to do something that would last. I could organize a closet, cut out a pattern for an apron, rearrange the living room or hang up pictures. Or I could blog. So I took pictures (although I dared not go into Baby Hippo's room to snap his photo as I was worried the shutter would wake him up, thus ruining my tender mercy), I edited, I admired my beautiful children, and now I'm sharing them with you. This isn't going to be undone and I feel blessed that I could record this moment as a tender mercy for years to come.

What tender mercies have you received lately? I would really like to know.

Thanks for listening. :)

P.S. My sister and I are finally getting skinnier!
See how we're doing it HERE! :)