My children are geniuses! A few years ago I was asked to be a presenter and speak on miracles. What?!?! I mean sure I’ve seen miracles and experienced many in my life, but how was I supposed to formulate a talk around them?
So, the first thing I did was go home and ask my kids what they thought about miracles. What is a miracle even? They taught me SO much and it has helped me to see more miracles and their purpose in my life even more!
I’d like to share some of those things I’ve learned in a series of blogs about miracles with you. 😁
My hope is that like me, you’ll start to see and discover more than you currently do, the miracles that God has and is working in your life. The biggest lesson I’ve probably learned through this study and exercise to discover them is just how much our loving Father in Heaven loves each of his children and desires to bless us.
Surely the thing God enjoys most about being God, is the thrill of being merciful. Especialy to those who don’t expect it and often feel they don’t deserve it. -Jeffrey R. Holland
As I made lists of all the miracles I had noted in my life, the patterns and categories became clear. I broke down the lessons and patterns my kids taught me into five different areas.
- Miracles that are patterns and shape and direct our course.
- Miracles serve as aid stations when we can’t go on anymore.
- Miracles we only recognize and are only meant to recognize in hindsight.
- Miracles happen outside of our comfort zones
- How to start seeing everyday miracles.
- The biggest miracle of all is the one that takes place inside each of us as we allow Christ to change us.
So what is a miracle?
We are limited, but God is not.
A miracle is not a suspension of natural law, but the operation of a higher law. A miracle is something a loving Father in Heaven does for you, that you could not possibly do for yourself.
This is one of six in a series on miracles.
MIRACLES THAT ARE SHAPING AND A GUIDING DIRECTION
Have you ever reflected on how you got to the point you are in your life right now? All the little things that happened to get you there, to lead you to your spouse, your career, the place where you live, and most importantly the person you have become? Each little thing might not seem significant on its own, but combined it is easy to see the miracle of God’s hand in guiding you.
God is in the details of our lives. – Pres Monson
Janet Lee in a BYU talk with her husband as he served as president of Brigham Young University taught, “A whole myriad of miracles is set in motion to maintain our constant progression and to remind us our purpose here. God didn’t create miracles as a single, solitary extravaganza to dazzle us. Each has a purpose and is given to perpetuate our progression. As we look at miracles, we must be more than astonished. We must be motivated to mold our lives in a Christlike manner. In so doing, we must see not only the obvious miracles but the many everyday miracles that give our life meaning.”
I’ve asked the questions what have past miracles guided me towards? And what are the current ones guiding me to?
I can see so clearly the people, places, and circumstances that God placed in my life to direct and guide me.
I’ll share a few examples with you.
Detours, crisis, and challenges, my friend, are simply covers for miracles that had no other way of reaching you.
When I was a teenager, my family moved from northern Utah to the Dallas, Texas area. To say I hated it would be a gross understatement. Not only was I ripped from my friends and extended family that lived nearby, but I also found myself in a foreign culture so to speak. Gone were my glorious mountain ranges and soft Kentucky grass, replaced with concrete, a big city, ‘pokey’ grass, ants that bite, and chiggers.
I was so miserable that I ended up moving back to Utah and living with an aunt to finish high school. I had a serious distaste for all things Texas.
So it was no surprise that when I started to face difficult times after graduating that I scoffed at peoples’ suggestions for me to move back to Texas.
It took quite a bit of prodding on the Lord’s part to get me there. I couldn’t find a job as many of the companies in the area were in a hiring freeze at the time and I was having no help getting financing to go to college. I would flippantly tell people who told me to move back in with my Mom in Texas that, “I would rather live in a cardboard box under a park bench than live in Texas.”
With utter poverty at my heels, I reluctantly moved to Texas. And then the campaign to get me to go to a singles ward began. My response to that was similar to those to move to Texas. But I finally agreed to go one time just to get everyone off my back.
It was that first Sunday when I walked in late to a Sacrament meeting at the 11th Ward that I met my husband. All of those nudges, admonitions, and obstacles that had been placed along my path were like bumper lanes at the bowling alley. They were intentionally directing me along the correct path, the one that would bring me the most happiness, all the while steering me away from my own devices that would have put me in a far worse place.
In her Podcast episode on Being Wrong, Jody Moore explores how some of life’s unexpected detours plant us right where we need to be.
Being wrong always leads to my best life. God’s plan trumps my plan everytime. The universe is always conspiring in my favor.
We have had many other experiences with choosing a career, where to go to school, where to live, adopting our son, and others that have been a series of steps perfectly placed and orchestrated by our loving Heavenly Father to bring to where we always needed to be. Truly the universe, or rather God, is always conspiring in our favor.
Next in the series on Miracles: Miracles as Aid Stations
Postcards from Heaven 
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