God Sees Us Trying

Tomorrow I’ll be 19 weeks pregnant. I started getting sick during the end of week 5 when I was in GA visiting my family, and ever since then my level of functioning has just been totally different from what I was accustomed to. I haven’t been able to go to church or to the temple like I used to, and both of those are really important to me & my relationship with God.
For the first time in months, I finally felt physically well enough to go to the temple a few days ago. Almost as soon as I walked inside I was overcome with how much I had missed being there. I felt so safe & I knew I was where I was supposed to be. Maybe it was inappropriate of me to make this “deal” but I told Heavenly Father while I was there that every day I felt good, I would go to the temple. Our temple closes in just a couple weeks & I want to take advantage of that as much as my health will allow.

Today, I got an IV & was feeling ok, but not great, and we decided to go sit on the temple grounds instead. After sitting on a bench for a few minutes, we decided to walk around. Literally seconds into our walk, I see a family from GA that I haven’t seen in close to 10 years. The dad was my basketball coach when I was in elementary school, and it was fun to catch up with them.
Seeing them was not some sort of earth shattering experience. But as I reflected on it, I realized that it was a tender mercy from Heavenly Father- Him acknowledging that He saw me trying. Maybe I wasn’t quite able to make it inside the temple, but I tried to be close to it. I saw it as the next best thing- the closest I could get to my goal at the time. I believe that Heavenly Father sees our efforts & recognizes when we try. He wants us to keep going & to keep trying, and that’s when He sends us those tender mercies. Little reminders that He is there cheering us on. Look for a tender mercy from the past few days- you’ll find one. Keep trying & know that Heavenly Father sees you :)