I was reminded that a friend’s birthday was on Wednesday. My heart shuttered a little. This dear woman celebrated her birthday in heaven this year. I’m sure she is living it up and being busy as a beaver on the other side. I am happy for her. However, a residual melancholy settled in that day as I thought again of our loss here.

The next day I received word that my boss and friend had passed away. Sadness descended, a little more heavily with this fresh loss. Over the next few days, I reflected on the footprints she left on my life over the years and how her passing would alter things.

These experiences reminded me of a lesson I learned years ago amidst the passing of a sister in our ward.

I did not know her, only of her. She lived just down the street. She and her husband were older, and I was busy raising my young children at the time. I had thoughts of a neighborly visit, but never acted on them other than maybe taking over a treat. If I remember correctly, her husband passed shortly before she did. Again I had thoughts of stopping by, but they came to not. When I learned of her funeral though, I made a point to attend.

It was an extremely small service. They had not lived in the area long so not many knew them. As I listened to some of the stories shared by her family, I was hit by a deep sense of loss. Oh how I had missed an opportunity to know a remarkable woman! I wished I had acted on those earlier nudges. I wondered what I would have learned from her. I still do.

While I have done better, I still let too many opportunities slip away. This past week, I’m grateful for the reminder of the blessings of connection. While it hurts so much when those ties are interrupted, I think it hurts less than the could-have-beens.

“The matter, therefore, of being a light is even more important in dark times. Our impact, for better or worse, on others is inevitable, but it is intended that we be a light and not just another shadow….The same God that placed that star in a precise orbit millennia before it appeared over Bethlehem in celebration of the birth of the Babe has given at least equal attention to placement of each of us in precise human orbits so that we may, if we will, illuminate the landscape of our individual lives, so that our light may not only lead others but warm them as well.” (emphasis added)

– Neal A. Maxwell, That My Family Should Partake (Deseret 1974), p. 86

Have you ever gotten an answer from Heaven? The unmitigated, no-doubt-it-is-from-the-Lord type of answer? The kind that you just bask in the glow of the feelings as long as you can, wishing you could bottle it up and open it when the doubts or troubles come again?

In the October 2021 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Russell M. Nelson said, “…[It] it is now time that we each implement extraordinary measures—perhaps measures we have never taken before—to strengthen our personal spiritual foundations. Unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures. (emphasis added).”

What has that message meant to you over the past few months? What are your “unprecedented measures”? I have been asking the Lord just that. What would You have me do? What do I need? This blog has been one of those answers.

I also was recently nudged to keep a record each day of how I see the Lord in my life. Just a sentence or two. I haven’t been at it long, but today I was blessed with a special moment I felt I should share. I had that “ah” type of moment described above.

The past few years have been a tangle of stretching highs and lows. I’m sure you can relate. It has worn me out. Some things that used to help carry me through previously, just do not seem to cut it lately. Leaving me wondering, what am I doing wrong? I have been praying for direction – for a while. A few days ago, I came across this message from Sharon Eubank. It burned into my heart. “When you can’t give more, when you’ve gone beyond your ability to give, then sit still. Call on the Holy Ghost and angels to come to you. Be still and get full.”

It was an answer! But I also felt that there was more to it that the Lord wanted me to learn. I did not have time to try and find where the quote came from right then, so I took a screenshot of the post to research later.

This morning, I tracked down the origin of Sister Eubank’s quote. And wow! It came from an address given at the BYU Women’s Conference on May 5, 2017. You can use the link below to discover the goodness for yourself.

The particular quote was from a forgotten note Sister Eubank herself found during a time she was asked to give “more”. The story is incredible. The way I came across the quote was Divinely orchestrated. It is a message I needed. Maybe you do too.

Oh how the Lord knows what we are going through and what our hearts need! While this particular answer took time to come – years even, it still came. And the waiting on the Lord increased the power of receiving it.

If you are waiting for your own answers, I encourage you to hold on. Keep searching. They will come. In the Lord’s perfect time. And ask Him about your own “unprecedented measures”. He will help you discover them.

**Sister Eubank’s message – https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/inspiration/when-youre-already-tired-and-cant-do-one-more-thing?lang=eng