I'm an artist and I like home decorating. I also love fall and everything that has to do with crunching leaves and the smell of nutmeg and pumpkin. And you know, gourds and stuff. So we went to the grocery store and I practiced self restraint by not buying a bunch of those little decorative pumpkins. And by practicing self restraint I mean I asked Sister Tucker if we could get some and she said no.
But I know that a few small events were Heavenly Father's evidence of His love and acknowledgement of me and my significant and insignificant desires.So as we went tracting last week, we came up to this house that had maybe 20 or 30 different gourds in all shapes and sizes all over the porch. We rang the door bell and a woman answered the door. She took a pamphlet and said we could try back another time. "Oh", she added, "and take a gourd, whichever one you want!" How funny that Heavenly Father would care about something so small, but I know that He loves us.
That happened around the same time that Elder Cornish gave his talk in General Conference. He shares this,
"Perhaps a personal experience will help to illustrate the point. When I was a young resident physician at Boston Children’s Hospital, I worked long hours and traveled between the hospital and our home in Watertown, Massachusetts, mostly by bicycle since my wife and young family needed our car. One evening I was riding home after a long period in the hospital, feeling tired and hungry and at least a bit discouraged. I knew I needed to give my wife and four small children not only my time and energy when I got home but also a cheery attitude. I was, frankly, finding it hard to just keep pedaling.
My route would take me past a fried chicken shop, and I felt like I would be a lot less hungry and tired if I could pause for a piece of chicken on my way home. I knew they were running a sale on thighs or drumsticks for 29 cents each, but when I checked my wallet, all I had was one nickel. As I rode along, I told the Lord my situation and asked if, in His mercy, He could let me find a quarter on the side of the road. I told Him that I didn’t need this as a sign but that I would be really grateful if He felt to grant me this kind blessing.
I began watching the ground more intently but saw nothing. Trying to maintain a faith-filled but submissive attitude as I rode, I approached the store. Then, almost exactly across the street from the chicken place, I saw a quarter on the ground. With gratitude and relief, I picked it up, bought the chicken, savored every morsel, and rode happily home.
In His mercy, the God of heaven, the Creator and Ruler of all things everywhere, had heard a prayer about a very minor thing. One might well ask why He would concern Himself with something so small. I am led to believe that our Heavenly Father loves us so much that the things that are important to us become important to Him, just because He loves us. How much more would He want to help us with the big things that we ask, which are right (see 3 Nephi 18:20)?"
I know that Heavenly Father loves and cares for each of us individually and if He answers our smallest wish, I know that He can answer our prayers of great importance as well. In fact, I'll write about how His hand has played a hand in my life that "...great things [have been] brought to pass...(Alma 37)"
I know that Heavenly Father loves and cares for each of us individually and if He answers our smallest wish, I know that He can answer our prayers of great importance as well. In fact, I'll write about how His hand has played a hand in my life that "...great things [have been] brought to pass...(Alma 37)"
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