Last night around 10:30pm, in the midst of our big storm and my anxiety over my husband's safe arrival home I heard the snow plows clearing our neighborhood streets. Then I heard something in our own driveway and thought "How cool! They plow your driveways too." As I peeked out our window I realized that it wasn't our friendly neighborhood plow man, but my friendly neighborhood plow dad. It was snowing hard, freezing and 10:30 at night and here was my sweet dad plowing our driveway so Robert could get in when he arrived home. I got choked up and realized even more how awesome my dad is and how much I love him. He's been in so much pain with his back lately and he should probably not have been out there plowing but he did. This is experience reminded me of one of my favorite General Conference Talks by Elder Eyring called "O Remember, Remember." (Link below- you should so read it!) This is the part I remembered as I watched my sweet dad out there plowing our snow at 10:30 at night:
"When our children were very small, I started to write down a few things about what happened every day. Let me tell you how that got started. I came home late from a Church assignment. It was after dark. My father-in-law, who lived near us, surprised me as I walked toward the front door of my house. He was carrying a load of pipes over his shoulder, walking very fast and dressed in his work clothes. I knew that he had been building a system to pump water from a stream below us up to our property. He smiled, spoke softly, and then rushed past me into the darkness to go on with his work. I took a few steps toward the house, thinking of what he was doing for us, and just as I got to the door, I heard in my mind—not in my own voice—these words: “I’m not giving you these experiences for yourself. Write them down.”
I went inside. I didn’t go to bed. Although I was tired, I took out some paper and began to write. And as I did, I understood the message I had heard in my mind. I was supposed to record for my children to read, someday in the future, how I had seen the hand of God blessing our family. Grandpa didn’t have to do what he was doing for us. He could have had someone else do it or not have done it at all. But he was serving us, his family, in the way covenant disciples of Jesus Christ always do. I knew that was true. And so I wrote it down, so that my children could have the memory someday when they would need it.
I wrote down a few lines every day for years. I never missed a day no matter how tired I was or how early I would have to start the next day. Before I would write, I would ponder this question: 'Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family today?' As I kept at it, something began to happen. As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done.
More than gratitude began to grow in my heart. Testimony grew. I became ever more certain that our Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. I felt more gratitude for the softening and refining that come because of the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ. And I grew more confident that the Holy Ghost can bring all things to our remembrance—even things we did not notice or pay attention to when they happened."
I realized that indeed, not only gratitude grew in my heart, but testimony of my Heavenly Father's love for me grew. How grateful I am for my Poppa Bear and all he does for our family along with all our family members who help us so much. And how grateful I am for my Heavenly Father Who has given me such precious family members to bless my life.
http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=88562bce258f5110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD
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