Tender Mercies

Our family has had a bit of a bumpy landing into the New Year. Rudy just got over Croup (which was at least as scary to Jason and me as it was to him- it killed us hearing his pitiful little hoarse voice, and his croupy cough and wheezing was 10 times worse!) During this ordeal, Jason picked up a mean stomach flu. Rudy and I fled to my parents house so that Rudy, in his already immune weakened state would be safe from the stomach flu. (I got Jason all set up before we left, lest you think we just abandoned the poor man.) Well, a day and a half later, my face was way closer to the toilet than I wish to admit. After all that trouble, I had brought the flu with me.
Anyway, I'm simply telling you all this so that the background is sufficiently set up for the awesomeness that next occurred.
The evening that my belly was beginning to rebel, Vati (dad in German), wisely asked me if I'd thought about getting a blessing. I hadn't, but the idea sounded great to me. I needed every bit of aide I could get as I faced a night which would consist of a croupy baby needing comfort nursing throughout the night plus a belly that seemed to want to pack up and move to the Bahamas.
Vati gave me a wonderful blessing, and I could feel it's power as he spoke it. I knew that the blessing was approved of by God, and that He would follow through on the promises my dad had spoken. A couple of the things Vati blessed me with was that the sickness would pass through me quickly, and that I would have the strength I needed to be able to provide for Rudy's needs through the night.
Within 5 minutes of the blessing, I was retching my heart out (or so it seemed at least). I'll spare you any more gory details; let's just say that it truly did pass through me quickly and that I was able to attend to Rudy when he needed it, even through all the queasiness and its consequences.
My parents taught me a great lesson that night. After Vati had blessed me, they did not just say to themselves, "There, now it's in God's hands". They still did all they could to help me along the way. Vati went out and bought Ginger ale for me, and he actually slept on the floor next to his new puppy so that Sam wouldn't bark or whine and wake Rudy unnecessarily. Mutti (mom in German) set me up a nice bed on the couch so I could come and go as I needed without disturbing Rudy (we were sharing a room before) and she checked on me through out the night and got up with Rudy when he decided that he would not be sleeping anymore at the agonizingly early hour of 4:00 am. I think it was Pres. Hinckley who talked about getting on your knees to plead for help and then getting on your feet to do what you can. My parents showed their faith in the Lord's blessings by being willing to do their part. They truly were His servants that night. I'm so grateful for the gospel in my life, and I'm grateful for the examples my parents have always been to me. I love you guys!