Earthly angels

Good Morning!

Craig and I haven't known what to write and we wanted to spare all of you the day to day ups and downs of this crazy disease; and there are many!  We decided to share with you some of the things we have learned and of the tender mercies that we have been blessed with.  We know there are earthly angels here upon the earth and we have had angelic help in lifting our burdens! How can we ever repay all of you for your kindness, your love, support and prayers?   The letters of kindness and love have buoyed us, brought laughter, cherished memories remembered and have reminded us of what really is important. Thank you!

So often we are asked by others what they can do to help; there are times we don't even know what is needed. The Lord does and has blessed  us and has sent others to lighten our load.  One such example is of a sweet young mother in our ward, who had a hard day herself, and as she was praying our names came to her. She did not know we had a rough day at the hospital and we were both exhausted. I was trying to get some much needed supplies for Craig and it was a mess;  I was ready to cry. This sweet women came with a hymn book in hand and asked if she could sing to us! (We play hymns in all forms and love them but because we do not have good voices this form of service would never have come to our minds....it would not be soothing! Although it would provide some humor.)  She sang for 30 min. and as she did so the sweet spirit of peace returned to our home and calmness returned to our hearts.  What a gift she was to us.....thank you for listening to the spirit and lifting our weary hearts.  We have since had others do this same thing of bringing a greater portion of the spirit to us through music. How grateful we are for there amazing talent and willingness to share it not only with us but also a neighbor who has some serious health problems herself and was in need of this too!

We do have a daily angel that comes; DaNae.  She is a master gardner and with her arms and hands she toils on our behalf  to keep our yard beautiful! Not only is this a blessing to us, it has blessed our children. They are more than willing to do the yard but because of her service it allows them them to come and visit their dad, help groom him, read to him, minister or just hold their dad's hand and cry if needed.

We have been blessed by CD's, quotes, visits, soup and homemade breads delivered. Men coming and sitting with Craig to allow me to go to the Temple and get some things done. The Priesthood coming to administer the sacrament, looking sharp in their white shirts, and blessings given. An example of this is when Craig was in the hospital recently and was going to have two unpleasant procedure done. The PA at the hospital who was doing the  procedures on Craig not only did them but honored his priesthood when Craig was in need by asking and being ready to give Craig a blessing!  He was another earthly angel that was an answer to our plea for help!

All of these acts of charity (and these are just a few) have brought a sweetness and a lifting to our experience. All have been a tender mercy from our Heavenly Father and it feels as if we are receiving a "love letter" from our Heavenly home.  We know that He is aware of us and we are being watched over always. Oh how we love the gospel of Jesus Christ! As hard as this is, we are grateful for the refinement we are receiving, the support that is lifting our weary souls and the knowledge that this life is not the end. Families can be together forever!

We send our love to you all! Thank you all for being earthly angels to us.

Love,

Craig and Judy