In the Hands of the Savior

Twenty-four years ago, our tiny newborn son struggled for his life in the intensive care unit of a hospital.
His lungs were not fully developed because of his premature birth, and he desperately fought for each breath of air.
He was so small but with so much will to live.
As young and inexperienced parents, my courageous and ever faithful wife, Jan, and I prayed that the Lord's hand would reach out and somehow help our baby boy continue to breathe.
As I put my trembling hand through the small opening into the isolette, I felt so inadequate and powerless.
I took hold of the tiny but perfect hand of our newborn son, and there was a powerful spiritual connection never to be forgotten.
Two fingers from each of my hands covered his tiny head as I administered to him.

Our desire for him was pure, but we knew that his earthly experience rested in the Lord's hands and not in ours or in the medical team who cared for him.
I then humbly realized that my quivering hands held power and authority well beyond my own.
My fingers on his head symbolized the placing of God's hands and power upon our son.
Following that blessing, in a moment of emotional peace, my eternal companion and I looked at each other across the isolette, feeling the spirit of renewed hope and comfort born of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and in the personal effect of His Atonement.
It was a powerful witness of His love for an infant son who had just left His presence.
We were then better prepared to accept His will for our son.
We truly felt we had placed our hands in the hands of the Savior.
It was as if the Savior's own hands provided the critical respiratory aid, allowing our son to breathe and gain sustenance.
with each breath and with each incremental bit of progress, we expressed prayerful thanks.
Today, our healthy son and his indebted parents continue to be so grateful for the Savior's willing hands.

-W. Craig Zwick -The Lord Thy God Will Hold Thy Hand -October 2003 General Conference

Until you next read these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

The Dream

I was out with my sister, driving along a beach town, checking out homes/apartments for rent that we could possibly afford to move in together. The prices were expensive as we tried to figure out how it all worked out, as we were trying to stay under $400 but for a variety of reasons places were more like $900 and we were trying to figure out if that was for one or two, and why there were different prices for the same apartment/townhouse set up, and it was because the different prices would offer different amenities for free. The $900 one offering special access to a beach. We drove down to the beach to check it out and walked along the sand next to tall rock obelisks that were nearly redrock but also other stones as well. We had climbed upon the rock tower, myself going basically to the top, when the tide came in. My sister and others with us took the route back down that we had come up, but I thought I saw a quicker route and tried a different way, only to realize that the way i'd chosen was steep and dangerous with a higher chance of me falling and dying. So I returned, trying to race down the way I'd come like going down many flights of stairs to try and beat the water back to land. I didn't. I ended up in a room I hadn't been in before in this rock tower as I unintentionally took a different way down than I'd come up, and the flash of gold caught my eye. In an hollowed area was a treasure trove full of gold coins. I was captivated by it, and encountered some others as well who knew of it. It was easy to say that I'd gotten gold fever, becoming obsessed, only to have moments of clarity when I ran into my sister in a passage way, where there laid the body of a young girl huddled up in a side passage. "Safety was just on the other side of this wall." I said quietly. For the whole cave would go underwater when the tides came in except the room where the treasure was. The wall itself looked like a waterfall, so not easily visible. "And she stopped here to try and save herself, not knowing that she was so close to surviving." As many people had gotten trapped -or were prisoners- and hadn't escaped the tides. "It makes me remember how valuable life is over gold, how that room isn't truly about containing the gold, but providing a source of safety."

Then the unholy tones of daylight pulled me away....
and I became myself again. :)

-S.N.D