Sarah's Making Lemonade

I hope Easter was a lovely day for all.  It is a special time to reflect on the wonderful gift the the Savior gave to all of us.  In recent years, I have realized that my understanding of the atonement is pretty surface and that it is a much greater gift than most of us can comprehend.

Elder  Jeffery Holland gave a talk last week about the last week of  Christ's ministry on this earth.  Though I have heard it so many times before, but never really thought just how lonely that week must have been.  None Were With Him

Sarah invited Jon and me to come to her house for dinner between church and the musical fireside that the Institute Chorale performed (that is a strange term to use).  In the end, Mariah & Stephen brought the boys and ate with us, then went to the fireside.  It was a very pleasant day.  I enjoyed cooking with Sarah, visiting.  The boys were pretty good, especially since they had just sat through 3 hours of church before coming over.  they weren't too honest about what they didn't want to eat.  ;-) and then it was time to sit in "church" again!  First thing out of Garrett's mouth was, " do they have a nursery here?"  Lot's of snuggles, a few toys, drinks, and "whisper " later . . . oh yeah, and some listening, our day was

 over.  But not quite.  Before I go on, the fireside was beautiful and I do love listening.  

We did miss our dollies and their parents . . . but I suppose we should share them with the other family in town. ;-)  Brianna made their jumpers, I'm pretty proud of her taking on that while she is finishing up the last class of her master's degree. They turned out so cute . . . and so did the jumpers! 

I gave Sarah a ride home .  We had a good visit.  She shared with me that she has realized that she was enjoying a "back door blessing".  I think this is what most refer to as a "tender mercy".  She was pretty annoyed when she found out that her tax return was not on it's way. She was planning to use the return to pay off most of her car.  Her hours at Sportmans' Warehouse had been cut and she was barely making it each month.  No car payment would have been nice, but her paid off car would not be repairable due to finances.  As she thought things through, she realized how Heavenly Father had been mindful of her .   

When her car died on Saturday, she had just driven from her weekend job, outside of town, on the freeway.  If her car had stopped in the  middle of that fast moving, crowded traffic, who knows what may have happened.  She was only 6 blocks from home when it did give out.  On the edge of campus, there are usually lots of people who will help you get your car out of the way, and they are young enough to have quick reflexes so no one hit her in that intersection.

 A friend is leaving town for a week and offered her car as a loaner during the travel time.  That makes it easier for the couple of days it might take us to get a car ready for her to take for an extended time.  She's coming over tonight and we will get her return finalized so that it will be deposited soon . . . there will be a good chunk of  money to help with her  car repair.  Jon suspects that the timing belt broke, and then a valve has dropped down on a piston, jamming it.  We are talking pricey repair here, all inside of the engine.  

It was really  satisfying to hear that she has learned this life's lesson, to make lemonade.  It can sure make the daily grind and just life in general so much easier.  Humbling oneself, by recognzing God's gifts to us, can help keep us in touch with the Spirit.  It in turn will help us see our blessings and find answers, where we might not recognize them through our own eyes.