Day Three: A Common Thread

The keeper at the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there. - 2nd Nephi 9:41.

The goal for this day (and going forward) is to keep a journal of my relationship with Jesus Christ. To write about the attributes that I admire in Him, lessons He has taught me, or moments when I have felt His love. Nephi recorded a promise the Lord gave to him in this regard, "that these things which I write shall be kept and preserved, and handed down unto my seed, from generation to generation, that the promise may be fulfilled...For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ." (2nd Ne. 25:21, 23)

Oh my, this is big. I am flooded with the memories of times when the Savior has blessed me with his love. I'll just write about one today. When I was in active labor, laying in a hospital bed, pregnant with one of our last children, it was Jennie, I think, I decided that everytime I had a contraction, I would focus on the Savior. I wanted Him to be with me through the pains of this birth. Gayle and I had gone to Lamaze classes and learned the breathing techniques, and so all our seven children were born naturally, with no pain meds. Such was the case now, as I focused on a spot on the ceiling, and breathed, and thought about the Savior with every contraction. Birth was beautiful, and it was afterward that I had a truly spiritual experience. After Gayle had left, and I was alone in my room, I had to continue with a pitossin drip (yes, I had been induced), and it was awful. The drip made my uterus contract, so it felt like I was still in labor, and they get stronger with each pregnancy, so, after 7, you can imagine how painful it was, and at this point, I just wanted to sleep. Plus, the delivery staff was extrememly busy with other deliveries, so I was given the assignment to "ring" the nurse when my IV bag ran out of it's fluid. What? Were they kidding? It was the middle of the night, and I wanted to go to sleep. I prayed to my Heavenly Father about my dilemma, and of course, thanked him for our new beautiful baby He had just sent to us. Feeling very calm, I fell asleep, and awakened just as the last drips of fluid were flowing through the tube. I called the nurse. She came, took the IV bag, and hung up a new one. What! Another! I prayed. I fell asleep, and the entire scene was repeated again. I woke up as the last drips were flowing through the bag. I was overcome with gratitude. I called the nurse. She came with a third bag and replaced the 2nd. Again! Again I prayed, and fell asleep. And a third time, I woke up just as bag was emptying. I know that it was nothing short of a miracle that I could have been awakened just as the last drips were going. I knew that I was not alone. I prayed with gratitude for this experience, and I heard someone say my name. "Nancy." My spiritual ears and heart heard this. Do Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ know us personally? Yes, I know they do, and they love us so much...more than we can comprehend. So much, that Jesus gave his life for us in Gethsemane and Calvary. Do I have a personal relationship with my Savior? Yes, I do.