And Just Like That: A Tender Mercy
The other day, just after learning that we would not be receiving any paychecks for the entire summer, my husband and I ran a couple errands before the girls came home from school.
One of those errands was to go to Sears and check out lawn mowers.
I know that might sound a little hypocritical, given our current financial situation, but we don’t have one and we have been scouring Craig’s List and yard sales to no avail. Our yard was starting to look a little too jungle-like for comfort and short of taking the hedge clippers and doing it by hand, something needed to be done.
So we thought we’d head to Sears and just look. See if we could swing it somehow in the budget, even though we knew we probably couldn’t.
But first, we had to run to the grocery store.
While we were there we ran into a member of our branch who said, “We were driving past your house the other day and we wondered if you needed a lawn mower?”
(Yes, that is how bad the weed garden that was our lawn looked.)
He continued, “Because we have an extra one that you can have.”
It was all I could do not to break down and bawl right there in EconoFoods, but I sure felt noticed and loved by the Lord right then. Especially since a lawn mower probably isn’t really much of a need in the grand scheme of things. We don’t have a HOA to fine us for not mowing, and many of our neighbor’s lawns looked just as jungle-like as ours did, but the Lord still cares about our lawn and knows of our desire to have it look nice. And for our children to be able to play in the backyard without getting eaten by weeds that are taller than they are.
And that’s how it came to be that we acquired a lawn mower on Saturday morning and now have a perfectly respectable looking yard.
A Tender Mercy if I ever saw one.
That is a tender mercy! I love nice people.
YAY!! Thanks for sharing this, I've been thinking of you and your family… what a wonderful blessing. The Lord does care about things like that and that is so awesome to me, that He loves us THAT much 🙂 Keep the Faith. That story just made my day.
That is seriously awesome.
It's not the lawn mower nearly so much as knowing how well you are being looked after, is it? Thanks for the reminder of how well we are watched over.
We were blessed in the same way about two years ago. Our neighbor across the street does landscaping for a living and gave us the extra lawnmower he had. Sure beats using the electric weed-eater with a long extention cord coming out of the front window.
I love how the Lord likes to remind us He's aware of out situations. Great story!
AWESOME story! That is so amazing. I love hearing all your spiritual stories. I should be a little deeper on my blog sometimes.
I love love love tender mercy stories. I am feeling overwhelmed financially, too, and working hard to remain optimistic. I'm grateful that you have shared these stories with us…it reminds me that I just need to keep the faith!!!
what a great experience! it brought tears to my eyes because it reminded me of how we got our washer and dryer. very similar story.
Wow. Someone loves you, I guess.
Hey Lara,
Just read your comment on Braden's blog about my review and figured I has better come by and confess that I've been to your blog before just never left a comment. *blush*
Anyway, I appreciated your comment and you even inspired me to create a BlogHer account, even though I have no clue what I'm doing.
Sorry blogger isn't working! I'll look forward to someday getting a comment from you!! 😀
P.S. Loved your story! Sometimes it's just so amazing the way the Lord takes care of us!
We got one the same way, too. Then, a year later, we were able to bless the family that gave us the mower with a washing machine when we got our new pair because our dryer burned out, and to get the washer was only going to cost $150 more. But it was a tender mercy when we received the lawn mower because we had no way of buying one ourselves. Another time, I needed a stroller, and lo and behold, my dad sent one up from Az with my cousin who lives in UT. Little reminders, aren't they wonderful?–Amamda B.
Just yesterday in church, several people mentioned how grateful they were for tender mercies.
The trick is recognizing them! Yay for a lawn mower, but more importantly, yay for the reminder that you are loved
Perfect! Very nice story!
Way to tempt God into giving you a tender mercy. 🙂
just like that…not amazing but such a powerful testimony to your faith and also your tithing. You are a very special lady and your family is being watched over. He works in mysterious ways doesn't he? Nah I say, not mysterious at all! hugs…..and smiles.
What a great story. And how neat that the member of your branch listened to the prompting!
Thanks for this great reminder. The Lord is watching out for us – and when we do our level best, he's there to back us up. We're also living on a tiny budget these days and it's beautiful to see how the right coupon shows up in the mail or someone drops by with clothes their kids have outgrown or I get a little consulting job I wasn't planning on right when the need arises!
It's amazing how little things can really cause us to remember how very blessed and remembered we are. Miss ya!
AWESOME!
That almost made me cry…I love hearing stories like this where you just know the Lord is watching over you. No matter the cause.
That's awesome!
What a blessing … I hope to become the person that is able to 1. Have a spare lawn mower to give away, and 2. be receptive enough to know who to pass it on to!
Yes, truly a tender mercy!
every day little miracles and blessings: thank Lord for His mercy! truly amazing every time!
Thanks for sharing! I love when the Lord meets our smallest of needs just so He can remind us that He's ready to meet our EVERY need. God Bless. 🙂
Small and simple things, baby. It's always the small and simple things.
That really gets to me where it counts right now. We are feeling the pinch in a big way right now, too. But I just have to have faith and keep on going. Your story helps. Thank You
That is really amazing. An inspiring story for me to become better at trusting the Lord to provide tender mercy's.
SO happy for you that you now have what you need to help make your yard beautiful.
What a blessing!
Thanks for reminding me about tender mercies! Heavenly Father does watch out for us :). And thank you for your comment on my blog!
Wow, just wow! Stoppin' by from MMB. I love hearing stories like these. You should submit it to the Ensign.