Miracles
I thought I would
take a minute to introduce myself. Even though we have been members of this
ward for more than 4 years, there are many of you that I don’t know. I spend quite a bit of time in the hall ways
with my sweet little baby, so I apologize many of you may not recognize me. My
name is Kacee Weldin, I am married to Sam Weldin we have been married just over
5 years and we have a 5 month old little boy named Hayes. We teach 6-7 year
olds in primary, and we feel very blessed to get to hang out with them for a
couple of hours each week.
So, I feel like I
need to begin my talk with a disclaimer, I am not a spiritual giant by a long
shot, and I feel very inadequate speaking to all of you today. That being said,
I am in constant amazement of how my Heavenly Father works, so even though I
may not by very knowledgeable, I have been incredibly blessed to have
experienced and witness many amazing miracles in my life. And, so I knew when
Brother Van Lehn asked me to speak today about miracles that my Heavenly father
would help me know what to say. I found
two talks in regards to miracles, one given by President Howard W. Hunter and
the other by Sister Sydney S. Reynolds that I wish I could just read word for
word to you, because they summed up everything I would want to say, but much
more beautifully than I could ever do. But, my dad said the church frowns on
plagiarism, so I will only share small parts, but encourage you to read or
listen to them if you get the chance.
I have been so
incredibly blessed in my life to have experienced life changing miracles. The
fact that I am standing here today, and have sweet healthy little baby boy are
some of the most precious recent miracles in my life. The day that Hayes was
born I refer to as my day of miracles. So, many miraculous things happened,
that can only be explained as gifts from a loving, and aware Heavenly
Father. I will spare you many of the details but
during my labor with Hayes I had some complications and ended being in labor
for a significant amount of time and ended having to have an emergency
c-section. Both Hayes and I had to have quite a bit of medical attention during
the delivery, and after he was born. A nurse made a comment to my husband in
the hospital that really hit home the gravity of the situation when she said
“Sir, you are a lucky man. If it wasn’t for the miracle of modern medicine you
would not have a wife and son today.” During the day of my delivery I received
multiple blessing from Sam and my dad, not only to help me but to help our sweet
baby, who was at the time struggling. Although I don’t remember exactly what
was said in those blessings, I do remember Sam saying that we were both going
to be ok. I am eternally grateful for
the miracle of modern medicine, the power of the priesthood, and a loving
Heavenly Father that blessed me and my sweet baby that night. To me, that day was just as significant at
Moses parting the Red Sea. I was grateful that my Heavenly Father was willing
to bless me and my family with such a life changing miracle. Part of me feels
like I was asked to give this talk, purely so I could publicly thank my
Heavenly Father for that miracle in my life, so I would feel very ungrateful if
I did not expression my appreciation to him today.
In a talked given
by Sydney S Reynolds in April of 2001 entitled “A God of Miracles” she shares a
similar story about her daughter giving birth to twins, a boy and a girl, 3 and a half months early. After months of
constant monitoring and care, the little boy is release home but the little
girl continues to struggle. The doctor suggest that a surgery needs to be done
to help open her air way and to open her stomach to help her breath and eat
better. This was a particularly terrifying surgery, because the repercussion
could be long lasting. Sister Reynolds family gathered together to fast and
pray on December 3. On December 4th , they received this letter :
Dearest Family,
Wonderful news! Blessing from the Lord. Our heartfelt thanks for your prayers
and fasting in behalf of our little girl. Yesterday morning she came off the
ventilator and has been off for 24 hours at this writing. To us, it is a
miracle. The medical staff are still guarded about predicting the future, but
we are so grateful to the Lord and to you. WE are praying that this will mark
the beginning of the end of her hospital stay. And we even dare to hope that
she’ll be home for Christmas.
-She did make it
home for Christmas, and both babies are doing just fine.
In their family
they referred to this miraculous event as their “parting of the Red Sea
experience”, I do the same with my experience with Hayes.
Mighty miracles
such as these are evident throughout history and particularly so when Christ
was on the earth. In a talk given by Howard W. Hunter entitled The God That
Doest Wonders, he shared of many of the miracles Christ performed on earth. President
Hunter made the following statement:
It is the most
remarkable to witness one who is deaf made to hear again. But surely that great
blessing is no more startling than the wondrous combination of bones and skin
and nerves that lets our ears receive the beautiful world of sound. Should we
not stand in awe of the blessing of hearing and give glory to God for that
miracle, even as we do when hearing is restored after it has been lost?
As I sat and
thought about that question, I began to think about all the amazing things that
I have been blessed with, that I take for granted. Like President Hunter
mentions, hearing is such an amazing miracle that takes no effort on our part,
but can be devastating if it is lost, and the restoration of it is quite
miraculous. As I thought about the many
miracles that exist within my own body, and within my own home I began to think
of the tender mercies our Heavenly Father gives and shows us on a daily basis.
Seemingly insignificant things that to each of us can be monumental and can
only come from an aware and loving Heavenly Father. Keys lost and found. Work scheduled changed to fit the need of a
new mother. Marathons finished despite injury
and difficulty. Paths not taken or doors not opened, that left room for
something greater to take its place, all gifts from our Heavenly Father, and
all miracles in their own right.
Sister Reynolds in
her talked entitled A God of Miracles shares a story of being in college and
frantically trying to finish an assignment and prepare to leave for a trip. She
was doing laundry in the dorms and was trying to switch her laundry from the
washer to the dryer. Unfortunately, all the dryers were taken and had a number
of minutes left on their cycles. She was upset and knew that she was not going
to be able to complete all of her tasks before she needed to be on the road.
She went back upstairs very discouraged. While she was upstairs she felt a
prompting to go back down to the laundry room and check again. She questioned
the feeling for a moment, but decided to check it out. When she went back down,
she found two dryers open and was able to get her laundry completed in time to
leave for her trip. She asks the question:
Could the Lord
possibly be concerned about smoothing my way in such a small but, to me,
important matter? She answers the question by saying “ I have learned since
through many such experiences that the Lord will help us in every aspect of our
lives when we are trying to serve Him and do His will.” She goes on to say “ I
believe that all of us can bear witness to these small miracles. We know
children who pray for help to find a lost item and find it. We know of young
people who gather the courage to stand as a witness of God and feeling his
sustaining hand. We know of friends who pay their tithing with the last of
their money and then, through a miracle, find themselves able to pay their tuition
or their rent or somehow obtain food for their family. We can share experiences
of prayers answered and priesthood blessings that gave courage, brought
comfort, or restored health. These daily miracles acquaint us with the hand of
the Lord in our lives.”
I, like many of
you, experience these private miracles, or tender mercies on a near daily
basis. One time while traveling home from Las Vegas with my sisters, I blew a
tire. After pulling off the side of the road, I soon realized that I didn’t
have all the tools necessary to change the tire. We were at least an hour or so
away from home, and it was starting to get late. After a quick prayer, my
sisters and I were blessed to find a gentleman who was able to help us change
the tire and get on our way home again. In this instant in my life, I asked the
same question that sister Reynolds asked.. Could the Lord possibly be concerned
about smoothing my way in such a small but, to me, important matter? My answer,
much the same as hers, is yes. My Heavenly Father is aware of me, and my needs
above even my own comprehension. Elder David Bednar gave a talk in General
Conference entitled The Tender Mercies of the Lord in which he shares this
story of his first experiencing speaking in General Conference:
Elder Dieter F.
Uchtdorf had just finished speaking and had declared his powerful witness of
the Savior. Then we all stood together to sing the intermediate hymn that had
previously been announced by President Gordon B. Hinkley The intermediate hymn
that morning was “Redeemer of Israel.” Now, the music for the various conference
sessions had been determined many weeks before and obviously long before my new
call to serve. If, however, I had been invited to suggest an intermediate hymn
for that particular session of the conference – a hymn that would have been
both edifying and spiritually soothing for me and for the congregation before
my first address in this Conference Center I would have selected my favorite
hymn, “Redeemer of Isreal.” Tears filled my eyes as I stood with you to sing
that stirring hymn of the Restoration.
He goes on to say:
Near the conclusion
of the singing, to my mind came this verse of the Book Of Mormon “ But behold,
I, Nephi will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all
those who, he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even
unto the power of deliverance.”
The Lord uses
miracles to show how aware he is of each of us, and to help increase our faith.
I have noticed that after I recognize a miracle in my life, I have a better
understanding of just how dependent I am on him in my daily life. I am also
made more aware of how much I am talking to him in prayer. It is very humbling
to be blessed by a miracle, and then to have to begin a prayer with an apology
for being away for so long.
I have a sister who
is an amazing journal keeper and is always noting her thoughts and feelings.
She keeps a detailed record and history of her life and events around her. As she looks back, she is able to see many
additional miracles that she hadn’t noticed while in the moment. As I prepared
for this talk, I began to notice more tender mercies in my life. I was inspired
to accept a challenge to journal my daily miracles, and to make an effort to
watch for the additional miracles in my life that may otherwise go
unnoticed. I encourage you to challenge
yourself to not only notice the private miracles or tender mercies that our
Heavenly Father gives us, but to write them down and share them with your loved
ones. Making an effort to notice, and identify private miracles in my life has
made me more aware of just how personally my Heavenly Father knows me, and how
much I actually rely on him to make it through each day. I feel grateful to my Heavenly Father for
showing me how loved I am and for his great power in my life.
I share Sister Reynold’s sentiments when she
stated: God did part the Red Sea, and He did give us the Book of Mormon. He can
heal us from our sins. And He can and will bless us, His children in our daily
lives. I know that he lives and loves us and is today a God of Miracles. I am
prepared to testify that there is today, as there was yesterday and will
forever, be a “God of Miracles” who loves his children and desires to bless
them.
I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ
Amen.
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