Tender Mercies.

I am continually amazed by our Heavenly Father's capacity to love. As Thanksgiving approaches and we reflect on the things we are most grateful for, I cannot help but be overwhelmed by how frequently and perfectly our Heavenly Father blesses us. His blessings are individual because He knows us so perfectly. Elder Bednar describes tender mercies much better than I am:

As I reflected on my tender mercies for my family home evening lesson tonight two experiences came to mind that illustrated to me how much my Heavenly Father loves me just the way Elder Bednar describes. These experiences are vastly different, but both remind me that I have a loving Father in Heaven who mindful of me in all times, and in all things, and in all places.

He is always looking for ways to bless me.

First.
Last summer, I was driving home to pick up my sister, Callie, from Lexy's after an Oakton dance. It was around 1:30 in the morning when I was driving down a dark quiet residential road. As I drove up the road, I had the distinct thought that at this time of night a car would likely run the stop sign. At the idea of this, I moved my foot off the gas and over the break. Because my foot was there, when a car did come around the corner without stopping, I had enough time to stop before the car hit me. There is no way I had that thought on my own, it was a prompting of my Heavenly Father, and it is a tender mercy I am certainly grateful for.

Next. A Simpler, but No Less Significant Experience.
I love walking on campus and observing things that I've learned about in my classes on campus. I love seeing the beauty of the world that Heavenly Father created, and continually learning more about how it works. Today I was looking at a tree on the hill that leads to the cannon. While I was looking at the tree I stopped to pick up some trash under a bush. When I picked this up something caught my eye. It was a leaf with interesting bumps on it. I noticed another leaf with more bumps. I am always grateful for opportunities to learn, and I love to see God's creations in the Earth. It always makes me feel close to him and reminds me that His creations are evidences of His love for us as His children.

Sometimes tender mercies are large and obvious, other times the tender mercies of our Heavenly Father are things only we can understand. They are special to us because of who we are, and because he knows that they are tender mercies for us. We can choose to look at these things as consequences, or we can look at them as evidence of our Heavenly Father's love. When we choose to open our eyes to it, the evidence of our Heavenly Father's love is overwhelming. You are a child of God who loves you, and He is continually looking for ways to bless you.