never-ending blessings of service

This morning was a little rough. A little bit before we left for church a neighbor, whom I don't know well, came to my home to complain about Alec. Alec had upset him and his wife and the neighbor said if Alec did it again they'd call the police. I apologized but the man remained angry.

I was quite upset. It's embarrassing and it's scary. It is also a little maddening because I wanted to scream at the man to give Alec a break. After all, he has Down syndrome and autism. He doesn't mean any harm.

I talked to Alec and explained why he couldn't do what he did. Then I listened to Alec yell at himself and cry in the 10 minutes before we left for church. I walked out the door with a very heavy heart thinking "how in the world am I going to get the Spirit back into my life today so that I can enjoy church?"

I climbed in the suburban and it was out of gas (and we're supposed to make the 1 hour trip to Tooele and back again tonight). I got to church and only one other leader/teacher showed up for the teacher training class that I had prepared for so we cancelled it (what a waste of my time and preparation!). It was NOT being a good day.

Then Carolyn gave the YW combined lesson on service. My mind was flooded with memories of services that I have been the recipient of and, in turn, my heart was flooded with the Spirit of God.

Who knew that services I received even years ago would come back to heal my heart and mend my troubled spirit?

I walked into Sacrament meeting only to watch one of the other Priests help Alec tear the bread and I was overcome with emotion at the tender mercies of the Lord. Using the hands of others, God helped me see that His hand is in all things and that He loves me and is mindful of me. If I just look, I can see God's tender mercies in all the many acts of service that I receive daily and the memories of those acts of service can buoy me in times of need.