I've had a few experiences in the last week that have shown me that I can truly help others when I follow the Spirit. It's been quite humbling and exhilarating at the same time to realize that I've been the way Heavenly Father has been able to answer others' prayers.
On Sunday we mixed things up with our church schedule. Usually we go to Sacrament meeting, Sunday School and then Relief Society/Priesthood. This week we switched the last two hours. In Relief Society we watched a beautiful video about working on our own family history....finding those of our family who belong to us. I "leaked" through the story about a couple with four teens. They were struggling and the husband admitted that they might get divorced. The video was following actual people, so it wasn't a story that someone had written. Anyway, the couple worked on doing their family history together and began to get closer. Then at the end of the video the couple ended up getting sealed in the temple. It was absolutely a beautiful story.
Then we went to Sunday School. I hate to admit, but all through church, I was feeling sleepy and thought I might fall asleep if I had to sit still through one more class. We started out with a very good discussion talking about whining vs. murmuring vs. speaking up. One brother talked about how his young son had whined that he didn't want to go to his Primary class, then at that moment we heard loud whining in the hallway. His wife was out trying to wrangle that little boy and keep him happy and calm. We all kind of giggled at that, and went on. As we were going on a thought came to me, "You need to go out there and help." It was VERY strong and VERY persistent. I calmly put my scriptures away, gathered up my big bag and went into the hallway. I saw the look of frustration on the mom's face and asked, "Can I help you? I feel like I need to." She laughed and said that another sister said the same thing. We went to a table and pulled things out of my giant church bag. The things I had in there weren't necessarily things I would usually have, because I don't like taking treats to church, but I took them because we were supposed to have choir practice and my boys get a little whiny and rambunctious during that time. I gave this little boy some animal crackers and he instantly stopped crying. The other woman and I shooed the mom off to Sunday School and we proceeded to play with this little guy. We played cars, raced them, laughed when they drove off the table and then talked a lot. He didn't scream again for the rest of the class.
I honestly don't know why I needed to help him, other than I THINK that he would have kept screaming if I hadn't gone out with my cookies. But his mom got to enjoy Sunday School with her husband and not worry about her little boy.
Last night I had a voice mail from the lady that helped us do our lending. She sounded quite frantic and frustrated. She said she was trying to track down a check that our insurance company had sent for $412. She wondered if we had it.
I called her back, leaving her a message, that yes, we had gotten a check for $412, and that it was sitting quietly in our escrow account.
Here's the whole story.
A few weeks after we'd moved into our home, our homeowners insurance company sent us this large check. Steve had checked the mail, and was pleased that we were blessed with this extra money. He hid it from me, planning on surprising me with a Kindle Fire or an iPad for Christmas. Well, he couldn't hide it for long, and after 3 days showed it to me. I was INSTANTLY worried. I knew that we shouldn't be getting an extra check, and that we had JUST bought the home. I worried that we might lose our insurance or something else would happen.
I called the insurance agent and he suggested that we call our mortgage company and have them put it into our escrow account. I called the mortgage company and sent them the check. This was well over a month ago, and I haven't thought a thing of it since.
At the same time another couple, who'd just bought their home, got a cancellation notice on their homeowners insurance. Their premium wasn't paid at all. This was a more than a little frustrating to them, I'm sure, and they called our friend Julz.
Apparently, the title company accidentally paid OUR insurance (which is the same company) with THEIR money.
At the time I was putting the money back into escrow, I never felt good about *just* spending it. I only felt peace once it was safely tucked away, where we couldn't spend it.
Again, the Spirit works in mysterious ways.
My friend told me that I was one in a million, because anyone else would have spent that money. I explained the situation to her and how I knew it wasn't right to spend it. She said that it was a miracle, because they never hear about those kinds of things happening.
I don't know why I was so blessed to be the one to help others, but I'm grateful and happy that I listened.
