Miracles All Along the Way

I apologize for the late post and for the shortness of this particular post.  I always find it more difficult to write when I am back home.  It always seems like there is just something more valuable to do with the little amount of time that I get to spend with my family and friends when I am in Utah than to write my blog posts.  But I'll try to write more frequently than I did last Summer, though these posts will likely be much shorter.

This week I moved my furniture and belongings out of my apartment on Monday, picked up my Dad from the airport on Tuesday, finished up classes on Wednesday, headed out on the road Thursday, and got back home on Friday.  It was a whirlwind of events and I'm still kind of catching my breath from it all, but it is wonderful to be home.  It was so wonderful to spend time with Julianne and my family and also to meet little Max for the first time (or rather to renew our acquaintance which I am certain we had in the pre-mortal world).  There is nothing quite like coming home and being with loved ones.  As much as learning and degrees have to offer, they are nothing when compared with love and family.  In some ways I think Brother Brigham's description of how he gained his testimony is applicable.  After describing his missionary, Eleazar Miller, as "a man without eloquence, or talents for public speaking" Brother Brigham went on to say, "The wisdom of the world...is like smoke, like the fog of the night, that disappears before the rays of the luminary of day, or like the hoar-frost in the warmth of the sun's rays....The world, with all its wisdom and power, and with all the glory and gilded show of its kings and potentates, sinks into perfect insignificance, compared with the simple, unadorned testimony of the servant of God....The glory of man is fleeting as the twilight, and like the "baseless fabric" of a dream, it vanishes away" (Brigham Young, 13 June 1852, Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, 1:528; Journal of Discourses, 1:88-94).  I feel that way about my family.  No amount of degrees or wisdom does nearly as much for my happiness and fulfillment as the smile of a new baby, a two year-old boy, and a four year-old little girl.

These last few weeks have been marked by miracles.  Just a week after his birth, little Max was admitted to the hospital with severe jaundice and hypothermia.  It was amazing to watch as prayers and fasting and faith contributed to the good work of doctors and nurses to restore him to health.  He is now making good progress and is such a beautiful little baby boy!  As I was preparing to start for home, I had an attack of allergies that made me miserable on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  I was so stuffed up and miserable that I had a hard time sleeping on Monday and Tuesday.  This had me worried  because I knew that I had a long drive ahead of me and I didn't want to do that on little to no sleep.  Wednesday night I had my Dad give me a blessing and I was able to sleep and the allergies haven't bothered me as much since that time.  It was a miracle for which I was very grateful.  This miracle was all the more important because on Wednesday while I was at my last class, my Dad had fallen and sprained his wrist, making it difficult for him to grip the wheel to drive.  Dad didn't want to call me because I was in class.  But gratefully, the wonderful staff at the Fossil Creek Residence Inn took care of him, transporting him to a local clinic to get his wrist checked out and make sure there were no serious problems.

So I have been reminded that this really is a day of miracles and those miracles happen all along our way back Home.  Like the still small voice of the Holy Spirit, those miracles are often small and almost unnoticeable, but they represent the ever-present manifestations of our Father's love and detailed concern for His children.

Brett