Tender Mercies....

Have you ever thought about that phrase...."tender mercies"..... It seems to be a phrase of much use lately, like somehow someone used it, every one heard and said , hey I love that expression, I will use it too!! Seems like every time I turn around I hear it being said in reference to something, someone, or somewhere. Have you ever really thought about what is or are tender mercies??? Sometime ago, I could feel myself becoming bogged down, with life's daily trials. Not the biggies, just all the little things that help to shape us and make us who we are and I started praying for recognition of blessings....As always, I prayed, and continued on with daily life. It was some time before I realized how much more often I noticed all the little things that may have seemed "coincidental" and yet somehow I knew they were not coincidental, but a "blessing". After I noticed this happening frequently, I finally realized, that my prayer had been answered and I was receiving a "recognition" of blessings. Of course in my limited view, I thought that this would occur here and there, never expecting, to be bombarded many times a day in the quietest of ways with recognition of how many things happen to us, that are not by chance, accident or coincidence. I have come to realize that tender mercies, are all the ways we are blessed by a loving Heavenly Father, and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. So many times, with all things good and bad, I will have the quietest impression, that "this is a tender mercy". I never expected when I said my little prayer for recognition how much I would be blessed by that simple request, nor could I have imagined how much that would change my perspective of the way life works. I did not appreciate, nor was I even aware of how often we receive the touch of the Lord in our daily life, those small tender mercies....