the 'Little' things

[Mamallama]

the ' L I T T L E ' things

"As you might know, the head of a company survived
9/11 because his son started kindergarten.

Another fellow was alive because it was his turn to bring donuts.

One woman was late because her alarm clock didn't go off in time.

One was late because of being stuck on the NJ Turnpike because of an auto accident.

One of them missed his bus.

One spilled food on her clothes and had to take time to change.

One's car wouldn't start.

One went back to answer the telephone .

One had a child that dawdled and didn't get ready as soon as he should have.

One couldn't get a taxi.

The one that struck me was the man who put on a new pair of shoes that morning, took the various means to get to work but before he got there, he developed a blister on his foot. He stopped at a drugstore to buy a Band-Aid.
That is why he is alive today.

Now when I am stuck in traffic, miss an elevator, turn back to answer a ringing telephone ... all the little things that annoy me. I think to myself,
this is exactly where God wants me to be at this very moment..

Next time your morning seems to be going wrong, the children are slow getting dressed, you can't seem to find the car keys, you hit every traffic light, don't get mad or frustrated;
God is at work watching over you.

May God continue to bless you with all those annoying little things
and may you remember their possible purpose. "

My friend sent this thought to me today and it was a great reminder to me that I need to trust in the Lord in all that I'm going through---including the daily frustrations of life. I need to remember that Heavenly Father is in charge---and that there is a reason for everything, even though I cannot see or understand the 'why's of it all.

[5ft Diva]

I loved this, ML. Thanks for sharing it. I agree with everything you said. I feel so blessed to know there is a God that loves me.

[Dia Minha]

Thanks for sharing Mama.

I was complaining to my in-laws last week that I was so sick and tired of hearing every one talk about how they had been so blessed and had received immediate answers to their prayers, and that they knew it was all because they were so faithful and doing everything Heavenly Father had asked of them. I told them about the time I couldn't find my keys Sunday morning.

We were running early so we had time to look for them. Me and the kids looked for over 10 minutes and couldn't find them. My oldest suggested that we should pray. So I asked her if she would pray for us. She asked Heavenly Father to help us find my keys and to help us get to church on time. After the prayer I kneeled quitely while the kids got up and begain to search again. I listened, but didn't hear a thing.

Five minutes to the hour I packed my two little ones in the stroller and the three oldest ran along beside me and we high tailed it to church. We arrived a little late and I was so frustrated to find someone sitting in our regular seats. However, the meeting had not started yet. I found out later that Elder had been waiting to start the meeting, because the assigned speakers had not shown up yet. So, we didn't find the keys, but we did make it to sacrament meeting, kind of, on time.

It was months later that I started feeling like the keys were somewhere by the fridge. We pulled out the phone cabinet and looked and searched and couldn't find them. However, the feeling would not leave. A month or so later I asked Elder to please pull out the fridge, because that was the only place they could be. He pulled it out and we found, nothing. He spent the next hour moving the fridge around at different angles and tilting it from all sides. Just about when he was ready to give up the keys appeared where the fridge had been. So, our prayers were answered. Just several month later.

So as I was telling my in-laws this story one and then the other popped up with, maybe you would have been in an accident if you drove that day, or something else terrible could have happened. I had honestly never had thought of it that way. All I could think of was how long Heavenly Father had made me wait to find those keys and how many inconviences were caused, because they were missing.

How many times have I been frustrated, because I had to wait for an answer, because Heavenly Father knew what was best for me? How many times have I been angry, because it seems that everyone around me is getting whatever they want whenever they want it, and I have to wait so long, because He wants to bless me even more? These little stories sure put it all in perspective. Now if I could just remember that the next time I don't get the answer I want, when I want it.

Thanks again for sharing.

Dia

[5ft Diva]

That is an interesting perspective. How many blessings were made available to you because you didn't have your keys? I really like this idea. It resonated w/in me so I know I needed to hear it tonight. Thanks!

[Erudite]

The quote below is part of a larger essay on a topic near this. I thought it might be a useful addition to this discussion. The idea of not receiving what we think we should receive actually comes from a talk by Elder Groberg, where he talks about praying for wind to push a boat from one island to another. His companion says, don't pray for wind in a specific direction. What about all the boats coming FROM the island?

In singing “The Lord is My Shepherd”, the Spirit taught me that if I had “wants” (meaning spiritual frustrations and irritations) that this was MY problem. The Lord has given me tremendous blessings and some of my own personal desires are just that…personal. They aren’t the Lord’s will because His view is perfect and He can see that to grant me some of my requests would mess up His ultimate plan, for he has the best good of everyone in mind. If we create problems for ourselves, seeking to know the Lord’s will, and being willing to do it, will help us to overcome and delete those self-imposed difficulties. So first, recognize and be strengthened by NOT receiving what we ask for, because it means that the Lord is watching over all of us, and it means that God has something greater in mind.

That there is something greater to come, when we don't receive what we ask for is an idea from a Sheri Dew book (I don't know which). She says that she was praying with a friend over whether or not the friend should take a house and prayed that if it wasn't this house, that they be led to a better one. The friend was amazed at Sheri's temerity to ask for such things, but Sheri assured her it was perfectly acceptable to pray for something better if what was present wasn't right. Thinking that way, we allow God to be in charge of our lives in a new and enlightening way. On that note, I'm going to add a couple more paragraphs from the aforementioned essay, which is about drawing strength from humility.

Second, recognize that our place in the love of the Lord is secure no matter what trials come upon us. He loves us no matter what. It is our choice how to react to trials, how to grow from them, how to feel about them. If we allow the Lord to do so, He will help us in understanding the meaning of the trial and what blessings will come from it. He can help us grow in little tiny trials, which can make the bigger trials not quite so big.

Third, the Lord is smarter than Satan is. A lot smarter! Our Heavenly Father can foresee what knowledge and strength we may need before Satan slams us with trials that seem too heavy to bear. By recognizing that we are being prepared for something, we can know that we are being given the tools to bear all that will come our way.

Anyway, I totally know what you mean, Dia. It sometimes is just hard to be patient, but it has really helped me to think, "well...if not this then something better will come!" There is a reason for it all!

[Dia Minha]

I love the quote your quote where it says, "Second, recognize that our place in the love of the Lord is secure no matter what trials come upon us. He loves us no matter what. It is our choice how to react to trials, how to grow from them, how to feel about them. If we allow the Lord to do so, He will help us in understanding the meaning of the trial and what blessings will come from it. He can help us grow in little tiny trials, which can make the bigger trials not quite so big."

Something Elder and I always joke about is just being mediocre. We never seem to have any really big trials, just a whole bunch of little or medium ones. Sometimes coming so fast they overlap, causing us to feel very overwhelmed for short peiods of time. Knowing that I must be doing something right, that I must be learning what it is that I need to from all these little trials, helps a lot. And knowing that maybe the trials we call mediocre are such because of the little ones that built up to it. And without the little things would have been harder to face.

For example, I remember it being so hard when Elder was called as the young men's president. However, it was not as hard as it would have been, because I had already gotten use to him being gone on Wednesdays and for scout camp, when he was a counselor in the YM. So, I just had to struggle through the extra meetings. Then when he was called into the Bishopric it was the same thing. I had already gotten use to one night a week and several hours on Sunday so it was just a few more hours on Sunday and one more night a week (sometimes he is gone three nights a week, but not very often and it just makes it better when he is home on Tuesdays). I'm not saying it has been easy, by any means. I can just see how Heavenly Father made it easier.

Dia

[Big_Sissy]

Thank ML, those little things turned out to be quite amazing.

I learned recently that trails are all relative to you. If you are a 3 (scale of 1-10) and you are given a 5 (scale 1-10) trial then it's pretty tough to over come, however, what if you were a 7 and you got a 5 trial? That would be nothing.

Line upon line -- before you know it, 9's will be cake too. Just keep allowing the Master Refiner to work his magic in your life and you'll get there.

[Mamallama]

Wow, great thoughts and experiences. I appreciate you sharing these. I too have seen in my life how the Lord has prepared me little by little, line upon line, for each 'next step' or trial. It's really amazing to me when I look back on my life and trace how certain things prepared me for later events to come....again testifying to me that there is a reason and purpose for all that I go through.

I'm so thankful for a loving Father in Heaven who prepares me in the most mysterious of ways at times, for that which is to come.