Thank Goodness for Home Teachers and Retreats

I thought about a really long post explaining the small miracle that took place in our home over the past couple of weeks, but decided on a summary, cause the other was getting just to sappy....but I want my Heavenly Father to know how thankful I am for His love. The past 8 months have been some of the hardest of my entire life, and our family has moved 3 times in less than a year. This migration has left me feeling very isolated and alone in our struggle. This attitude has been extremly hard on my personally. A couple of weeks ago I received an email from my new home teacher's wife setting up an appointment for him to come see us. My initial response was "Oh, great.", since I had been avoiding anything "churchy" for the entire summer, due to my extremely bad attitude about moving AGAIN, and having to try and "make nice" with ANOTHER new ward. So anyway, our home teacher comes, and I immediately like him. He is kind, quiet, and immediatly understanding of our tough situation. He also mentions that I should get to know his wife and that we sound like we have a lot in common. A few days later she calls and invites me to lunch with herself and several other women in the ward. I pulled myself out of my comfort zone and went. I had a great time and decided to attend the Relief Society Women's Retreat for our ward a couple of weekends later. My immediate concern was what to do with my kids. I tried to get my mom out, but all the flights were full (she works for United) so that was a no go. Then my home teacher's wife volunteers him to watch my kids for the night, I accepted, even though I think he was crazy, and went to the retreat. It was exactly what I needed to mend my wounded spirit, and my Heavenly Father knew that. I didn't have any reverent or spiritual experiences, but I laughed and cried with a unbelievable group of women, and left hoping I could call many of them my friends. My Heavenly Father knew exactly what I needed to keep going at just that moment in time. I know I am truly a Daughter of my Heavenly Father, and he know me just as well as I know my daughter. He knows my weaknesses, and knows how to work around them to get me where I need to be, and I am SOOOO thankful for that. I have no idea who I would be without that knowledge. All of this because my Home Teacher's wife sent an email. So, thank you to my Home Teacher (the Thompson's) and their love and help, Janae' for reaching out to be my friend, and to all the wonderful women I met this weekend at the retreat. I look forward to being a bigger part of the ward and getting to know you better.

Donan