Clint's grandpa had one of these. He loved to collect inspirational stories and then copy them and send them in letters, birthday cards, Christmas letters, etc to his children and grandchildren. He always seemed to know just what we needed to hear when we needed to hear it. I too hope to be able to carry on this legacy with my children and grandchildren.
I've just started to gather "supplies" into my Spiritual First-Aid Kit, but let me give you some examples from it:
"Some of the most heart-wrenching, discouraging events in our lives—from which we long to be set free—are actually designed to prepare us with the very skills and understanding [God] needs us to have. As we draw closer to the Lord and put our total trust in Him, in His power, and in His timing, we can leave our fires of affliction more pure, more refined, and with more skills and understanding.” –Wendy W. Nelson
“He will guide you in what to do. He will open doors, remove roadblocks, and help you overcome obstacles" —Neil L. Andersen
"Live the gospel as conspicuously as you can. Moms and dads can do everything right and yet have children who stray. But even in such painful hours it will be comforting for you to know that your children knew of your abiding faith in Christ, in his true church...It will be comforting then for you to know that if your children choose to leave the straight and narrow way, they leave it very conscious that their parents were firmly in it." Elder Jeffry R. Holland, April 2003 Wayward children
Can one righteous young woman change the world? The answer is a resounding “yes!” You have the Holy Ghost as your guide, and He “will show unto you all things… [you] should do” (2 Nephi 32:5). It is the daily, consistent things you do that will strengthen you to be a leader and an example – daily prayer, daily scripture study, daily obedience, daily service to others. - Elaine S. Dalton
Severe Mercy
(from Sister Hafen's friend's Spiritual First-Aid Kit)
Nine-year-old Agnes Caldwell had been wading through the wind-driven snow with the rest of
the Willie Handcart Company for what must have felt like an eternity when relief wagons
appeared on the trail ahead of them. Before the storm hit, Agnes had been taking each mile of the
autumn trail in stride, even the one that had been strewn with rattlesnakes. For that mile, she and
her friend Mary held hands and jumped again and again over the snakes until they were out of
danger, mercifully unharmed. But after days of dragging her nearly frozen feet through the
deepening snow, she wasn't skipping anymore. And she was literally starving. The death toll in
her company was rising with every passing night. Yet of the arrival of the relief party, all Agnes
records in her understated history is, “It certainly was a relief.” And then she describes her own
rescue, and this is the point today: “The infirm and the aged were allowed to ride, all able-bodied
continued to walk. When the wagons started out, a number of us children decided to see how
long we could keep up with the wagons, in hopes of being asked to ride. One by one they all fell
out, until I was the last one remaining, so determined was I that I should get a ride. After what
seemed the longest run I [had] ever made before or since, the driver, [Brother] Kimball, called to
me, ‘Say, sissy, would you like a ride?’ I answered in my very best manner, ‘Yes sir.’
“At this he reached over, [took] my hand, [then clucked] to his horses [which also made] me run
[even faster] with legs that seemed to [be able to] run no farther. On we went [for what] seemed
miles. [I thought at that moment] he was the meanest man that had ever lived or that I had ever
heard of, and other things that would not be a credit coming from one so young. Just at what
seemed the breaking point, he stopped. Taking a blanket, he wrapped me up and lay me in the
bottom of the wagon, warm and comfortable. Here I had time to change my mind, as I surely did,
knowing full well by doing this he saved me from freezing [to death].”
Can you see why our friend calls this story “Severe Mercy”? “I thought he was the meanest man
that ever lived”? Sitting here in our climate-controlled comfort, put yourself in Agnes’
“shoes.” If I had been Agnes, I would have expected a little compassion from this “angel of
mercy.” Couldn't one look into my frostbitten face or at my bony, rag-wrapped hand have
entitled me to a crumb of kindness? But no. This man took Agnes by that little hand and instead
of swinging her up into his lap, in an act of tender mercy, he signaled his team to go faster,
forcing her into a stronger, faster run, which increased her circulation. His severe mercy saved
her life.
What's in your Spiritual First-Aid Kit?
I'd love for you to share either in a comment below or in an email (clintandrachael{at}gmail.com).
I'd love for you to share either in a comment below or in an email (clintandrachael{at}gmail.com).