Last weekend was wonderful. My youngest daughter has decided to serve a mission and her “farewell” weekend was upon us. On Saturday we went to the temple as a family and felt of the spirit. It was a sweet experience. On Sunday we went to church to hear her speak about being prepared to serve a mission. She chose to talk of testimony and how gaining one and living by the promptings of the spirit and faith helped her to be ready to serve.

As Latter Day Saints we all experience that joy of sending our children off to serve and then being amazed at how they have grown and been blessed when they come home. I have watched two boys come home as men, but this experience with my daughter is different. As I heard her speak and express her testimony I began to wonder how she could possibly come home more mature and ready to take on the world than she is now. She is so prepared, so ready, she will be a fabulous missionary. She is able to love people with her whole heart and yet recognize their right to choose how they live their lives. She will teach what she knows to be true, she will testify, she will have her heart broke when someone walks away, but she will be true to her faith.

Later that day we had a fabulous meal with family and friends. We figure we fed just under 60 people. Then we had an Easter egg hunt a week early for the little ones who won’t be around for Easter. My sister Kim is in charge of the hunt each year. She hides well over 200 little plastic eggs between her yard and the grandparents yard. So 2 – 3 year olds, 2 – 1 year olds, a 9 year old and a 14 year old took off and hunted and hunted and hunted. It’s so much fun watching them look and squeal and run. It’s amazing to see them trying to carry their weight in eggs as they search for more. It was great fun.

When all the eggs were found we gathered in the living room to open the eggs and sort out the booty. I was surrounded by 3 daughters and 2 sons and their spouse’s and children, my husband and his brother and his family, my sister and sister in law, my in-laws, all the people I love most in the world. It was noisy and chaotic and supremely peaceful all at the same time. And then into my mind came a line from my patriarchal blessing……you will be surrounded by your children in your later years and your home will be filled with love and peace.

Now I am 50 so I am getting older, but still I hope these aren’t my later years! I’d like to be around a good bit longer. But at that moment I looked around the room and realized that my family, the most important thing in my life, was sitting and lounging and laughing and embracing all around me and I felt unbelievably blessed.

I think sometimes we look for large blessings, the big TA-DA, but we really need to look for those small tender mercies that are spoken of in the scriptures. It’s been a rough time financially for our family and we’re experiencing some health issues, huge ta-da blessings would be great. But I have lived my life for my family. I have worked and prayed and taught and worried and tried to keep learning just so I could experience what I felt on that Sunday afternoon in a living room filled with people and little plastic eggs.

Life isn’t easy, we have no idea what’s in store for us. But we are so blessed each in our own way, and we need to focus on what’s truly important and strive to recognize the blessings as they come. To brush off such a tender mercy, to not acknowledge the blessings of that moment in time would have been so ungrateful.

So what are your blessings? What are you most grateful for? Have you slowed down enough in your life to allow the Lord to work in your life? Are you waiting for the big ta-da or will you allow yourself to experience the small blessings of an everyday life?

Sunday was a blessing and a memory that I will keep for a long time and return to often when I need a little boost of love and hope.