If you just looked at our clocks, this was a delightfully brief voyage -- we departed Beijing at 6:30p.m. on Friday and arrived on our Edmonton doorstep Friday night at 8. Funny how an hour and a half can feel like 22 hours.
But despite the time, the trouble, and Maylia's seatbelt trauma we had experienced a 'multitude of tender mercies' , to borrow a phrase from Lehi.
So stressed and anxious about the trip home, through my prayers and desperation I had decided to fast before we left Beijing-- as much as our circumstances permitted it. It's not that the Lord wouldn't have answered my prayers only, but I knew through experience that fasting as well as praying would allow me to more easily recognize and respond to the Spirits promptings and to feel His assurances more keenly. Like fine tuning a radio dial to zero in on a signal.
I prayed for those assurances and those assurances came -- though not in the way that I expected.
At the last General Conference Elder David Bednar spoke about the 'significant but subtle blessings that come as we pay the law of tithing' - that though we might not get exactly what we pray for, the Lord gives us exactly what we need:
" Sometimes we may ask God for success, and He gives us physical and mental stamina. We might plead for prosperity, and we receive enlarged perspective and increased patience, or we petition for growth and are blessed with the gift of grace. He may bestow upon us conviction and confidence as we strive to achieve worthy goals. And when we plead for relief from physical, mental, and spiritual difficulties, He may increase our resolve and resilience."
Like the payment of tithing, my fast was a small but significant sacrifice that the Lord blessed me for. But instead of an easy trip or a content 2 year old, he gave me kind and patient fellow travellers -- even as they were wiping the salad from them. He gave me a husband who provided endless assistance and sound advice who could calmly state 'if she cries she cries, who cares what people think' -- putting things quickly into perspective. He gave me the ability to creatively entertain Maylia when she was awake, the endurance to hold and rock her when she was asleep or carry her throughout a busy airport. He gave us competent officials, a delayed flight -- and did I mention the cutest, most incredible, feisty, funny two year old? Too many tender mercies to count. And all in an hour and a half.
We were blessed indeed.
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