Ordinary Days

I am grateful for angels, those who walk among us as mortal angels strengthening and helping us and those who we cannot see but who love us nonetheless.  “From the beginning down through the dispensations, God has used angels as His emissaries in conveying love and concern for His children… In the course of life all of us spend time in ‘dark and dreary’ places, wildernesses, circumstances of sorrow or fear or discouragement… Even the Son of God, a God Himself had need for heavenly comfort during his sojourn in mortality…” (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, October 2008)

A few years ago on an early spring bike ride, a friend and I collided resulting in a broken left collarbone for me and a broken right collarbone for her, a matched pair.  Seven screws and a plate put it back together.  One night I awoke in pain.  I went to the bathroom for the prescription ibuprofen but soon found that it is very difficult to open “child proof” lids with one hand.  I didn’t want to wake anyone to open the bottle but didn’t know how to do it myself.  Then a faint memory came into my mind.

I was a little girl, sitting in my grandma’s kitchen.  Grandma had broken her arm and was showing me how she took the lid off the jam jar by sitting on a chair, holding it between her knees and twisting with her good arm.  I sat down, put the ibuprofen bottle between my knees and twisted with my good arm.  The lid came off, I got the ibuprofen and even more, I felt the love of my grandma and her nearness wash over me.  Her presence brought more peace perhaps than her help. There is no way as we sat in her kitchen so many years ago that she could have known that she was sharing wisdom that could be brought back to me in the middle of a dark night.  She was simply spending time with her granddaughter, making me a peanut butter sandwich, an ordinary moment, an ordinary day.
 
Life is full of ordinary moments, ordinary days and ordinary time spent with those we love and those we simply come in contact with who are unknown to us.  These moments, days, and time may not be as ordinary as we think.  For every kind word, listening ear, gentle touch, hopeful encouragement, meal served, heart lifted and need met, the love of God is conveyed to His children, the impact of which we may never know.  Your ordinary days are the days of  “emissaries sent from God”. 

One thought on “Ordinary Days”

  1. Elizabeth N.

    I love this! Thank you for honoring the simple ordinary things we do and the connections we make. I too have felt the presence and assistance of loved ones helping me through my ordinary days…
    By small and simple means…
    And I’m so glad you were able to get the comfort you needed!

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