Miracles never cease

So, our miracles have not ceased. Our water heater has been leaking pretty heavy and steadily for several weeks/months. I've been praying daily that it will last until we can afford to replace it. Friday was payday. On Saturday, Bro Ellertson was driving down 6th Street and saw one at a garage sale. They said it works great and were selling it for $20! I ran over and asked them to hold it for me while I ran to the bank for cash, and so it has been proven again - the Lord is mindful of our needs. Plus, it's even bigger than the last one we had. Woohoo!

He has definitely been mindful of me. The day before school began, I was all stressed. All of my work time had been taken up by stupid meetings and trying to schedule my students. I had no idea what to do with the students or even what their needs were. I had been reading the most recent conference issue of the Ensign, but for some reason it wasn't in the bathroom, and the only one there was from November 2008 (October Conference). The article that I opened up to read that morning was meant just for me at that moment.

You can imagine how moved I was when in the first sentence I read "...I wish to encourage (those) who at times feel overwhelmed with their responsibilities." And then"... Most of you have discovered that your ... duties will stretch you to the point that you wonder if you can stretch that far." "The more faithful service you give, the more the Lord asks of you... Your smile is a happy one because you know that He increases our power to carry the heavier load. The tough part of that reality, however, is that for Him to give you that increased power you must go in service and faith to your outer limits."

Yeah, I was completely reassured that this job is something I can do. That I'm serving some of his most courageous children, and that I can handle the increased pressure and responsibility - that my back will be strengthened to bear the burden as I serve him with all my heart, might, mind, and strength.

Here are a few more passages from President Eyring's talk, "O ye that Embark":

"It is like building muscle strength. You must break down your muscles to build them up. You push muscles to the point of exhaustion. Then they repair themselves, and they develop greater strength. Increased spiritual strength is a gift from God which He can give when we push in His service to our limits. Through the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, our natures can be changed. Then our power to carry burdens can be increased more than enough to compensate for the increased service we will be asked to give." When those feelings of inadequacy strike us, it is the time to remember the Savior. He assures us that we don’t do this work alone.

Also, for the past three weeks, I've had a toothache. Seriously, it has been miserable. For a couple of days, my cheek was actually swollen up like Alfafa's and I was down in bed the whole weekend before school started. I took some antibiotics and had it under control, but as soon as they ran out, it was killin' me again. I had it pulled on Friday and have wasted another weekend in recuperation. Thank goodness I was finally able to get it taken care of though...Walking around my classroom with an ice pack on my face was starting to be really silly.