Tender Mercies

I've had a very long, hard week full of stuff I won't go into here. It had nothing to do with Tom or any of the kids. They have been a great support to me always. My best friends have been there for me to lean on and my journal is full of pages and pages of everything. It has been very difficult, but I'm getting through it and I'm seeing things much clearer now. Heavenly Father has been here for me through it all.

Last night was the Ward Progressive Dinner and since I'm still the activities chairman I've been busy cooking cheesecakes all week. We had a successful evening and everyone had lots of fun, but when I went home I was emotionally and physically spent and wondering if I wanted to attend the Stake Women's Conference or stay home.

It was a really good thing I decided to attend the Women's Conference. The very first talk was exactly what I needed to hear today. It was about Esther and how she had been raised up in her time for a specific purpose. Sister Rawlins continued to apply that to our lives since we have been saved for this specific time and purpose. She talked about how Babylon in our day is spiritual in nature and that we need to keep our values intact.

Here are some things that really touched me:

The Book of Mormon was written for us and is full of prophecies about our day. Do you think Heavenly Father would leave things up to chance? We are the Lord's A-team. We are His first string.

Satan's tool is to keep us overwhelmed. He keeps us busy. He keeps the noise of the world so loud and constant that we get distracted and our senses become overloaded so we cannot feel the Spirit.

Remember who we are and whose we are.

"The time will come when only those who believe deeply and actively in the family will be able to preserve their families in the midst of the gathering evil around us." Spencer W. Kimball, Families Can Be Eternal, November 1980

We, like Esther have been raised up at this time for a specific purpose.