that he was found and his life had been spared through a miracle. This experience caused me to reflect a lot on the positive impact so many devoted home teachers have had on my life throughout the years.
When I was just a little girl, I remember Brother Hokanson who regularly came to visit our family and even brought me a birthday cake for my birthday one year.
When we moved to Utah our family was again blessed by a devoted home teacher - Paul Meiling. He and his son came regularly to share inspiring messages, and he took an interest in us as children too. He took notice of what we needed and acted without being asked. He noticed a large hole in our bathroom wall that we hadn't been able to afford to repair and lined up someone to fix the problem. It wouldn't surprise me if he was also behind our own little "Christmas miracle" years ago. One difficult Christmas when my dad was struggling with his health and our finances were tight we received an anonymous box full of gifts for our family that had been hand-picked by someone who knew what we would like - baseball cards for Jon, calligraphy set for me, etc. We never found out who the anonymous donors were but that Christmas remains one of my favorite because of the love we felt from whoever the kind people were who served us.
We almost "scrapped' our car years ago when we were told that it was broken beyond the reasonable amount we wanted to spend for repairs, but then our home teacher Greg Nelson took a look at it and found that it just needed a $5 part replaced and we are still driving our "green hornet" around with over 230K miles on it and his moment of kindness has saved us thousands of dollars!
When we moved to Idaho we were blessed to have unforgettable home teachers who visited consistently each months including Brother Harris, Brother Lewis, Brother Hale and Brother Redd each month. Brother Hale taught lessons specifically suited for our children that I am sure they will not forget and gave some inspired blessings to our family at various crossroads and challenges. He also was amazing at remembering our birthdays with frozen birthday treats and chocolates for the entire family to enjoy. Brother Redd invited us over for an incredible feast one year and also shared meaningful experiences about moving as our own children prepared for this big change in our family. Brother Lewis was a humble man, probably in his late 80s. I loved the outpouring of the Spirit that came when he shared experiences from his life and his heartfelt testimony, and my kids eagerly awaited the bag of popcorn that he brought for each of them on their birthdays. A particular message that Brother Harris shared one month has stuck vividly in my memory. He brought a handwritten note/picture that one of his children had given him and said how so many of the "storebought gifts" we receive fade away but the gifts that we treasure are heartfelt expressions of love, thanks and time to our family and friends. I was lucky enough to receive one of these "gifts from the heart" this Christmas from Alyssa that she made entirely on her own without anyone else knowing. After unwrapping this gift I asked her to tell me a little more about it. She said, "It's Jesus on the Cross, because I know you love Jesus." I love the candy and keyboard and kitchen gadgets that I received, but this one will definitely be the most memorable and her thoughtfulness touched my heart.
No comments:
Post a Comment