Tender Mercies...

I just wanted to share an experience Justin and I had this week that reminded us that Heavenly Father is very aware of each of us... As many of you know, since Justin went back to school we have been on a pretty tight budget. We've been living off of the "envelope system" from month to month to stay on track. Several weeks ago I thought I had given Justin our envelope with our remaining tithing money. It held 2 more months worth of tithing to be paid in Jan. and Feb. Well, needless to say, it was NOWHERE to be found! With January's tithing coming due, we decided to go ahead and take money from another bill to pay our tithing so it wouldn't go unpaid...this left us short for other expenses. I knew that Heavenly Father knew our circumstances and would bless us for our efforts...however, since he knew, it never even occurred to me to pray and ASK him to help us find the envelope. Well, things were getting tighter financially and finally out of desperation I thought maybe I should pray and physically ask for help. After getting up off my knees I went directly to the closet to search Justin's suit pocket for the 50th time. Still I found nothing. After deciding to go downstairs to check the coat closet, I stopped to pick up an empty mug sitting on my nightstand to take with me to wash. As I picked it up I moved the book it was sitting on, and THERE WAS THE ENVELOPE!! Talk about a QUICK and DIRECT answer to prayer! I learned or was reminded that... Heavenly Father does loves us and is mindful of our needs but often times He needs us to do our part and ask for what it is so that we can exercise our faith and see His hand when He answers. "Behold, ye have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when ye took no thought save it was to ask me.....Therefore, if you will ask of me you shall receive..." Doctrine & Covenants 6:5, 9:7