Tender Mercies

 My friend Carla loves the outdoors and learns and connects there as well as anyone I've ever met.

She had offered up an invitation to join her at a group meeting for some spiritual reflection and time in nature and I accepted and met her there.  

It was a beautiful November night in the 60s and the final remnants of autumn still clung to the trees giving us a last breath of fading color.

We sang a hymn and participated in a grounding exercise and then headed out on 30 minute walks with an invitation to be open to Ruach Elohim, Hebrew for the Spirit of God - the wind, the breath, the Spirit.  

As we walked in companionable conversation through the county park, I suddenly saw a young boy waving frantically. 

I recognized a  student from our school, there with his mom and brother.  Their family has been through one upheaval after another and I was able to take a moment and encourage this momma trying to create a memory with her boys but finding the details nothing at all like she had envisioned.  

As her son explained to his mom that I am a helper at his school, I introduced myself and shared some of the successes I have seen her son achieve in handling his anxiety and being brave.  

It was less than three minutes, but it was a precious time which filled us all. 

An invitation offered, an invitation accepted, the right trail, at the right time.  

Some would say coincidence.  

I would say the breath of the Spirit has grander designs than we are often aware of.

Elaborate designs where paths cross to help ease the burden of a worn out mother and a broken-hearted little boy, and encourage a teacher who needs to be reminded that what she does matters. 

Elder David A Bednar would seem to agree.  "Some may count this experience as simply a nice coincidence, but I testify that the tender mercies of the Lord are real and that they do not occur randomly or merely by coincidence. Often, the Lord’s timing of His tender mercies helps us to both discern and acknowledge them."

Tender mercies  fill my heart with gratitude for friends that invite, for people who help each other through difficulties and for the goodness of God always.