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I’m grateful that the Lord can sometimes send a gentle reminder for things that clearly we should be aware of. Once during my freshman year in college I was wrapping up for the day and getting ready to walk home. It was evening, but not too dark yet. Mentally I went over what I had to get done for the next day (homework, studying for exams, all that great school stuff) and while I couldn’t think of any assignments/tasks that were missing, I kept getting the feeling that there was something I hadn’t done yet. The thought made me stop and double-check my notes, even going all the way back to the syllabus of some classes. And that’s when I found it: a semester paper that I had somehow completely missed that was due — you guessed it — the next day. While my body & mind went into a little shock at the realization that I had nearly missed the biggest assignment of the class, I felt this assurance that, while not nearly the best way to do research and write a paper (all in one sitting at the library) I would certainly be able to do it if I buckled down and focused. I walked home at midnight after spending the entire evening in the library, but the paper was done. Sometimes I think of how I felt before I realized my mistake: so oblivious and unaware of what was about to transpire; just excited to head home. I know it can be nice to stay in such a place mentally, but really, without a doubt, I am grateful the Lord helps in moments like that.

Once I was working on a coding lab for my class and, my goodness, it was just not working. Part of our labs is that we run it through a test script and if it passes then we are good to go and we can get it passed off. For this particular lab, whenever I ran the script, I kept getting the same error, over and over. Literally hours were spent, huddled in my room, lights off, bright screen in my face, blood-shot eyes, staring at a coding problem that for the life of me I couldn’t figure out. I didn’t pray right away, but I slowly started to. I got the impression to ask one of my siblings for help. They did coding, but I honestly hadn’t reached out to them before because I knew how busy they were. And not only that, but I wanted to solve this on my own, so It was definitely a “defeated” mentality when I eventually called. I honestly didn’t expect what would happen next. The first question they asked me was, “Did you put any ‘hooks’ in your code?” I had never heard that term before. They briefly told me how I could use simple lines of code to display info, like warnings, and I could see what was happening behind the scenes. It literally changed everything about my debugging process, and I found the issue within 20 minutes. The phone call probably took just about 10. I should not have been as prideful as I was, and I think the Lord was helping me know that not only is it ok to reach out for help, but He specifically asks us to. He knows how to help us.

While serving in the USCG I was flying into Kodiak Island in Alaska on a foggy November night. The crew chief asked me to sit in the port search window to keep an eye out for any holes in the fog so we could see to land. I put on the communication head set and swung out in the bubble. It felt like I was flying through a cloud. The fog was so thick, I could just see the propellers of the C130 aircraft. All of a sudden the fog cleared and all I could see was a mountain right in front of us. I started saying, “Up, Up, Up” over and over as the pilot pulled back and tried to bank and climb away from the mountain. I couldn’t take my eyes off of the propellers. They were skimming the grass on the side of the mountain. I thought we were done. I knew it would be quick. Then we were plunged into the fog again. Soon we popped up out of the fog like a whale clearing the ocean’s surface. As we headed for Anchorage, I knew that Jesus was there with us. He saved us. Whenever I think about that day, the feeling that he has for me comes back. I know he did it because I still have work to do for him.

Been trying to work on getting some self-employment/entrepreneur projects off the ground and thankfully the Lord has blessed me with tons of help — mostly in the form of people wanting to share their experiences to help me along. So grateful for it! Anyway, one night my creativity coach wanted to meet and seriously at the time I was feeling so anxious and tired and just bleh, so I didn’t want to be talking to anyone. I got a feeling that I should meet with them, and I pushed it away. “I’m tired,” I told myself. “You just don’t want to offend anyone even though they’d totally understand.” But again the feeling came, and it was to meet with them now. Maybe I was feeling anxious about ignoring that feeling, but I ended up accepting and we got together. It turned into the exact meeting I needed. The questions/concerns that were causing me anxiety and feeling off were answered and I had a clear heading on what to do next. After the chat I said a prayer of thanks and started laughing because I knew that of course listening to the Lord was the best thing to do. It felt like the Lord was chuckling with me too. I could so clearly imagine His hand patting my shoulder as He smiled and said, “See? Trust me. I know what you need and I want to help”. He has helped so much on this journey!

Had an interesting experience as a missionary that was surprisingly not about missionary work, but just a little thing that happened that might have saved a kids life. My companion and I had just finished a lesson with a family who had a little kid with tons of energy. He loved to run around and go on adventures (I’m sure much to his parents exhaustion!) Anyways, it was night and snowing outside, so my companion and I were anxious to get in our car and get the heater going; however, when we got to the car, it oddly locked — like we heard the door handles lock. My comp and I looked at each other confused. He pressed the unlock button multiple times and after a few seconds we heard the doors unlock and we got in, making passing comments that that was odd. We turned the car around and began to drive down the long driveway when we saw a little kid dart out a ways in front of us. We slammed the breaks and stopped just a few feet from hitting him. One of the parents rushed and scooped the little boy up while my companion and I sat in shock. Had we been just a few seconds sooner, we would have hit the boy as soon as he reached the road. On our way to our next appointment we pulled over and said a prayer of gratitude for the miracle we had just witnessed. I believe that sometimes the Lord will slow us down, even delay us, when it’s just not the right time. Maybe not always down to the seconds like that night, but still, I believe that timing is a huge part of the miracles in our lives.

I’ve found that going on walks to meditate, ponder and pray has been a very fulfilling habit. Recently I had one outing that stood out to me because it, at the start, didn’t seem like it was going to be a good walk. The day seemed to be a particularly sad one. Nothing out of the ordinary really happened, but I just felt discouraged and unsure what to do. I felt unsure of many things, honestly. I went on a walk hoping it would immediately clear up my mind, but it did not. Anxiety told me I should get back home and get back to work, but I really wanted to be out. I wanted so much for those clear answers on what to do. I prayed for guidance, but didn’t feel anything at first. I kept walking, deciding that I wasn’t going to listen to anxiety tonight. Slowly my prayers turned from “what should I do?” to “please, help me understand this…” (meaning my feelings and troubles). When my prayer changed to that, I felt close to God. I can’t really use any other words to describe it. It was like I could feel Him walking with me and the power & warmth of his presence. I let my mind wonder, process, and pray, and I felt certain understandings come. The understanding led to me coming up with something I should look into that might help me. This new path to investigate felt good, and I believe that the Lord guided me to this by helping me understand and process my situation. The whole experience was beautiful and emotionally powerful and I could not help but cry as I walked. I’m very grateful for Jesus Christ and His patience and love for me!

I went through a heart-wrenching divorce that left me feeling very alone and frightened of the unknown future ahead of me. I had four teenage children at home and I needed some help – a lot of help! As I was talking to my counselor about my fears and hopelessness, he looked me straight in the eyes, and as tears welled up he simply said, “Jesus loves you and is with you.” I immediately felt calm and peaceful that I was not alone in this journey. I came home after my session with my dear counselor, and my niece, who was three years old at the time, was there with my sister. My sister told me that just minutes before I arrived home, out of the blue, my niece said, “Mommy, Jesus loves Becky”. Twice in one day I felt the love and comfort of Jesus Christ. That happened many years ago, and I look back and see how the Savior truly was with me and helped me to where I am today. I love Him and look forward to the day where I can wrap my arms around Him and thank Him personally for being with me during the hardest time of my life and also during the joyful times. I learned if we reach out to Him, He will reach back to us and help us individually with what we are in need of at that time.

We have this big variety show at our school that happens every year and it’s put on by volunteer talent and things. Each grade puts on a dance/act too, and this year I was in change of some of our grade’s decorations. One of them involved having some people stand in the back and hold up a key prop that would shimmer as they moved it. One of the people assigned to do that was one of my best friends. I asked him because I knew I could trust him, but I never asked how he felt about it. The night of the event came, and I found out from someone else that this friend of mine was really down and feeling anxious. When I asked why, they said it was because he had accepted to help, but deep down really just wanted to watch. The idea of being the person to hold this key prop up made him really anxious. When I heard this, a simple feeling came over me and it was just this calm that not having the prop would be alright, and that it was more important to support my friend than force him. I found him sitting alone where the audience was going to be (before anyone had arrived) with his head down. I felt the feeling again, so I went and told him that he didn’t need to worry about the prop and that we’d be alright. I told him I couldn’t ask him to do it knowing how he felt. The joy and relief that filled his face warmed my heart. He gave me a huge hug and I felt this wonderful peace and understanding between us. I knew the Lord was teaching me something. Our relationships with people are always more important than things and events.

Growing up, my dad’s military career had us moving every couple of years. The hardest of these moves for me was after my freshman year in high school. I had spent the last three years in what had become my favorite place. I had several good friends, a great church community, and cousins living nearby. I didn’t want to leave. When I found out we were moving to middle-of-nowhere Kansas, I cried. Hard. I maintained a pretty bad attitude about it the whole trip there. Our first Sunday in Kansas, my parents saw a sign for a youth conference that was happening soon. Knowing I was depressed and angry about the move, they encouraged me to go, telling me it would be a great opportunity to make friends. Unfortunately, I have some social anxiety and the prospect of meeting new people terrified me. As I was pondering whether or not to go, and feeling overwhelmed with fear, the conference theme caught my eye. The theme centered around a verse of scripture, Isaiah 41:10. On the sign was the first line, “Fear not, I am with thee.” Peace settled over me. I felt like the Savior was speaking personally to me. I didn’t need fear. He would take care of me. I went, ready to test if it were true, and it was! The Savior comforted and strengthened me, giving me courage to get out of my shell and talk to people. I was able to talk to the girls I was staying with, and they became some of my best friends! That verse will forever hold a special place in my heart as it reminds me that we don’t need to fear. Christ is with us. He will strengthen us to meet whatever challenges we face.

For the last several years, we have experienced a death in the family on every odd-numbered year. First it was my uncle, very unexpectedly. The next odd-numbered year, my cousin took his own life. Next, my grandpa passed away after several months of painful cancer. The next odd-numbered year, I found out at a pregnancy checkup that my baby had had a twin who didn’t survive past eight weeks. Each of these experiences brought devastating heartache and unanswered questions. I prayed over and over for understanding and answers. Instead, I got peace. The Lord asked me to hold onto my questions with one hand and then hold onto Him with the other. He promised answers and understanding eventually, but in the meantime, He would give me peace and strength to keep moving. As I’ve held onto my Savior, He has given me some pieces of answers to my questions. Not all of them, but enough to help make my burden a little lighter. And He has given me His strength to carry heavy things. But most of all, I have found peace. He has calmed my heart time and time again. I just started another odd-numbered year. I know I shouldn’t put much stock in the idea that odd-numbered years are cursed or something. But I still felt anxious. What will this year bring? Once again, peace. Peace has filled my heart as my Savior has gently reminded me of all the tender mercies and miracles that have happened even when things were difficult. He is once again asking me to hold His hand. So I’m going to hold on as tightly as I can and lean on His strength through whatever may come.

Recently I’ve had a lot of moments where I’ve felt alone and troubled. Sometimes I can’t even put a finger on exactly why, but it lingers: this terrible feeling that I’m on my own. The most recent time it happened, a simple, but very clear, feeling came to tell God all my troubles. Not to ask for anything, just to vent. I knew He was already aware of what I was feeling, but to simply say it all in prayer, to voice it like He was right next to me, relieved the heavy feelings. I could picture Him so clearly listening; just being there. Every so often there was a feeling of love. Something small, not overwhelming. Just enough to keep me going knowing I was unloading to someone who really cared. When I was done, it felt like I had just finished talking to a good friend; one of those deep conversations that lasts. I was so relieved, and I felt a companionship with God. The problems didn’t go away, but I felt so different. I knew that not only was I walking with my Savior, trying to do all I could to be like Him, but He was also walking with me — doing all He could to bring peace.

I’m an IT “guy” of sorts, so I love it when the time comes to upgrade tech or revamp my workstation. I learned an important lesson on one such occasion. I had just unpacked and setup a new computer and was now eagerly ready to turn it on for the first time. However, to my dismay, the computer wouldn’t turn on. Suppressing my rising panic, I went through the simple troubleshooting steps I had done for so many others. Still, the computer wouldn’t turn on. This machine was to be put to immediate use with my upcoming projects — so at this point I was incredibly frustrated and unhappy. This computer was a dud. I knew I could get it replaced as a DOA (Dead on Arrival) but it meant a delay. That night there were gospel classes put on by the congregations in the area. At this moment, with how I was feeling, I didn’t want to go, but a quiet and notably calmer feeling came with a simple message: I needed to go. I fought the feeling, wanting to keep trying to fix the computer, but I decided to trust it. I went, and during the class the subject was on prophets who had unexpected challenges and the ways they kept trusting in God. As I listened, the Holy Spirit put peace in to my troubled and frustrated heart. I felt happy again. I knew the Lord was telling me it would be alright; that He knew it was an unfortunate and inconvenient situation, but He wanted me to trust him and never let such things distract from what is most important: staying close and learning of Him.