We Are Blessed

This post is long overdue.  I've been thinking about it for months and decided I needed to just take the time to sit down and write it!

In the October 2012 General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Thomas S. Monson gave a talk called "Consider the Blessings".  He said:

We are familiar with the truth found in 2 Nephi in the Book of Mormon: "Men are, that they might have joy." I testify that much of that joy comes as we recognize that we can communicate with our Heavenly Father through prayer and that those prayers will be heard and answered - perhaps not how and when we expected they would be answered, but they will be answered and by a Heavenly Father who knows and loves us perfectly and who desires our happiness.  Hasn't he promised us, "Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to our prayers"?

I too know that we have a loving Father in Heaven who is aware of us and does answer prayers.  I wanted to record three recent experiences of answered prayers that our family has witnessed.

Tyler
Many people over the last year have prayed for me and my family.  When we had our ultrasound in August to determine the gender of our baby (among other things), the ultrasound tech found a bright spot on Tyler's heart.  We had been praying my entire pregnancy that Tyler would be healthy, but this elevated our prayers, and our friends and family prayed for him as well.  As my pregnancy progressed and I became sicker, we continued to pray for my health and Tyler's.  When it became evident that he would be delivered early, friends and family and even people that didn't know us, but knew of our situation, offered up even more prayers for our health and well being. We all know the end of this story... Tyler was delivered 7 weeks early at just 3 pounds 4.5 ounces, but was healthy and is now a thriving 8-week old. He was born with no defects from the "bright spot" on his heart and was able to breathe on his own, thanks to some steroid injections I had received to speed up the development of his lungs.  We love our sweet little baby, and know that we were blessed and uplifted because of our prayers and the prayers of others.

Joseph Jayden
Matt's sister, Michelle, and her husband, Joey, have been trying for years to get pregnant with no avail.  I think this would be one of the most difficult trials and we have prayed for them daily that they would be able to be blessed with a baby.  In early October, Michelle and Joey were contacted by a teenage girl who was pregnant and was looking for a family to adopt her baby.  They immediately flew to Boise to meet the birth mother, and after meeting them, the girl decided Michelle and Joey were the perfect couple to be her baby's parents.  An answer to years of prayers, Joseph Jayden (JJ) was born just 2 weeks after Tyler and Michelle and Joey are loving being parents to their precious little boy.

Harris Family
All four of the kids in my family married someone from Boise, so it's only natural we'd all like to live here! My brother-in-law TJ is in his final year of residency for Emergency Medicine so has been looking for full-time employment for when his residency is up in June. There are two major  hospital systems in Boise.  St. Luke's wasn't hiring any emergency medicine doctors and St. Al's had one opening for an emergency medicine doctor this summer - so pretty darn competitive.  Mandi and TJ knew several people personally who were interested in the position, let alone people they didn't know who would like to work in emergency medicine in Boise!  Needless to say, many prayers were offered on their behalf.  For quite some time, TJ has been in contact with the hospitals and doctors at the hospitals, and even met up with the doctors from St. Al's at a conference last fall.  All his networking and hard work paid off because TJ was offered the job (without even a formal interview!) in November.  His contract is signed and Mandi and TJ and their family will officially be moving to Boise in a few months!

I am thankful for my knowledge of our ability to communicate with our Father in Heaven through prayer.  I am also thankful for my knowledge that He is aware of us and loves us and answers our prayers in His way.