God Manifests Himself

I've been thinking a lot lately about the way God is present in my life, even in the little things. It's been something that has been pretty neat to witness. I of course have noticed the times where it was easily recognizable in my life, when God would bless me in large ways. But while He indeed does that a lot, there are also so many very small things that happen that show that He is there and loves me and cares about me, and I have to be careful not to miss those as well.

"And behold, there were divers ways that he did manifest things unto the children of men, which were good; and all things which are good cometh of Christ;" (Moroni 7:24)

I think I started noticing the smaller things a little more clearly a number of years ago when President Eyring spoke in general conference about a practice he put into place many years ago, where each night he would reflect back on the day and try to recognize the way that God's hand had been in his life. He said: 

"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." (O Remember, Remember, Henry B. Eyring, October 2007)

I have had this talk, and this concept come up a number of times more recently, and I actually have tried to at least think through this exercise regularly. I haven't yet started to methodically write this stuff down, though I want to get to that point. But I have noticed even small and simple things.

Just last night, I experienced another one of those things. Wesley thought he left a cell phone charger in the car, so after Josh got home, I went out to see if I could find it, and by doing so, I also realized that he had left his backpack and binder in the car. Since Josh leaves early, he would have just gone to school without realizing that Wesley's school stuff was in there, and then we would have had to try to figure out how to get Wesley his stuff. This wouldn't have been a huge problem, but it definitely is nicer to just have the stuff in the first place. Anyway, as I got his things out of the car, including his charger which I found, I had the distinct impression that this was one of those times that God's hand has been manifest in my life.

God watches out for us and cares about us and our trials and problems. He wants us to be happy, and so He blesses us. We gain so much from our Heavenly Father, and it always amazes me the level of detail that He cares about. Even small and simple things in my life, God cares about. I am grateful for this individual care that I receive from Him.