I came home from a long day at church today just in time for dinner. Brooke and Steve came over for dinner this Sunday with their two little ones, Michael and Lily. We had a pasta dinner with Janene's specialty sauce made from our garden vegetables. While Janene was cleaning up and I was talking with Janene's Mom, Steve's brother John came over to return some borrowed tools. The next thing I knew, Steve was at the top of the ladder in our living room asking me how to disassemble the top section of our fourteen foot Christmas tree. He and his brother took the tree completely apart and packed it up in the special containers I built last year and hauled them out to the garage.
John was amazed at how heavy our tree is and that it takes three casket-sized boxes to hold it all. (I think it likely that I will be buried in one of those boxes because I will probably die either putting the tree up or taking it down.) A couple of months ago I tore my rotator cuff and have been going the physical therapy three days a week to fix it. I can't lift a jug of milk with my left arm. I had no idea how I was going to get the tree down this year. Elder Bednar talked about how we should be grateful for the tender mercies we experience in our lives and recognize that they are not accidents or coincidences, but gifts from God. God doesn't reach down in some miraculous lightning bolt to ease our problems. Instead He whispers to a listening ear through the Holy Ghost and inspires someone to perform a Christ-like act. Thus we bless each other and all are edified - the giver and the receiver. Tonight was one of those tender mercies for me. I will be forever grateful for this loving gift.
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