Tender Mercies

I am always amazed by the tender mercies of the Lord. I have been thinking about it a lot lately. My sister and I were talking about prayer yesterday. We love how a loving Heavenly Father lets those simple prayers of children be answered regularly so they know their prayers are heard and answered. Ask any of my Primary kids and they will tell you of a time their prayer was answered for a pet, to find something or whatever. I think the Lord really nurtures that simple faith. I remember a few years ago when my nieces teacher died. They were having a memorial for her out on the playground. My niece was so worried because the weather was supposed to be the biggest storm of the year. She prayed for good weather and then expected it would be all right. Amara and I thought this would be a good lesson for her that prayer is not always answered how you think it should be. I watched out my window at work all morning. It poured and poured. Sure enough, 10 o'clock came and the rain stopped for exactly one hour. When I asked Tia about it she said, "of course I prayed about it". I think all too soon we learn God is not a vending machine. I am glad he takes the time to nurture that young faith.
I am also glad he nurtures older kids faith. I have a niece Ari that is deaf. It has been a tender mercy of the Lord that Ari is in my life. I have never met anyone with the zest for life Ari has. I think God knew she would need a lot of personality to overcome, and she has. My sister prayed for years for a miracle for Ari to hear. About 3 years ago Ari got cochlear implants. Probably not exactly the miracle my sister wanted but her prayer was answered none the less. Ari can hear now with the help of the implant. This year she was even mainstreamed into regular school, although she also attends the School for the Deaf still. Miracles still exist. We just need to spend a little more time looking for them, and remembering to ask for help.

P.S. The picture is of Ari with her "serving" of cake at my Moms party. A cousin without kids thought she could dish up her own cake. She was going to take full advantage of that. The look on her face is pricless as she is faced with the thought of actually eating all that cake :)