Tender Mercies

A week ago Sunday I found out I was going to be singing in Sacrament Meeting on the 8th (two days ago.) This would be my first time performing in our ward and so I really wanted to do a good job. I chose a beautiful arrangement of "I Stand All Amazed" and was excited to play and sing it. I just hoped all week I wouldn't get sick because that would be the worst thing possible for my voice. Plus, I've already had 4 colds and bronchitis twice in 4 months so what were the odds that I would get sick again this past week?! Well, Tuesday Emma gets sick with a 103 temp. Josh gets a bad runny nose on Wednesday. Thursday Emma throws up. Friday Ben gets sick and stays home from school. Of course, Friday night I get sick. My nose was dripping but I didn't feel too bad so hoped it would be a 24-hour thing and be gone. Saturday night I was so congested, kleenex shoved up my nose, couldn't breathe, it was horrible. I had already decided I would be calling the music coordinator in the morning to cancel my musical number. As I lay in bed that night I prayed that I would be well enough to sing for those 5 minutes, and then I told Heavenly Father after that He could give me the worst cold I've ever had. Well, I think He has quite the sense of humor because magically Sunday morning my cold was nearly gone. I was able to sing and felt it went pretty well. It seemed right after I sang my last note my cold started coming back. Now, here it is two days later and my cold is even worse than it was Saturday. I'm very grateful for a Heavenly Father who answers my prayers and makes miracles happen. I'm also thankful for Mucinex-D, which has put me into a drug-filled state and has temporarily made my congestion go away, and for Kleenex Ultra Soft Tissues which have not rubbed my nose raw or bloody yet, even though I've used practically a whole box in the past 4 days. Tender mercies.