A moment when my faith grew stronger…

So…I am still at the beginning and still singing that amazing song from The Sound of Music. Did you know that that movie is almost three hours long? A couple of nights ago, I was struggling with the concept of sleep so, I grabbed my laptop and watched it. AW…it was the best three hours that I have had in a long time. OK, maybe not the best three hours but… close to it.

A memory just popped into this little brain of mine. Do you want to know which memory? I knew that you would. So let me share it with you…

The day after the funeral, I started to not feel very well. At first, I chalked it up to not having enough sleep and experiencing a huge range of emotions in such a short amount of time. I am not sure what it was but you know when your body is starting to share with your mind that something isn’t right. I happened to be talking on the phone to a dear friend of mine and mentioned to her that I wasn’t feeling too hot. I told her that I probably should end the phone call and get ready for bed. As soon as I hung up the phone, I knew that something was wrong. I had a fever, I had chills, I became dizzy and immediately I started throwing up. For the next 8 hours, I threw up. I am not saying just a couple of times…I mean every 5 minutes for 8 hours. No matter what I tried to do…sips of water, sucking on ice chips, saltine crackers, Pepto Bismol…nothing relieved it. The only time that I felt relief was during the moments that I was laying on the cold tile in my bathroom which only happened for a brief moment after each episode.  It was awful. (Thanks for an extremely clean bathroom). I couldn’t stop even when there was nothing left in my entire body, I couldn’t stop. Something was definitely wrong and I was getting scared as the hours passed by. I didn’t know what else to do.

Since I was already kneeling, I offered a sincere prayer to our Heavenly Father. I was scared and I needed His help. At this point, I wasn’t sure if I needed to go to the hospital. I couldn’t stop throwing up. I was getting nervous and I was getting more scared as the minutes ticked away. A strong feeling came over me that urged me to call my dad and ask for a priesthood blessing. Not wanting to wake my parents up in the middle of the night, I continued to pray (and throw up). The feeling of calling my dad came several times and each time it came, it was stronger than it had been before. I knew that I needed some help.

Finally, shortly before 6 am, I called my parents. I explained what had been happening for the past 8 hours. Minutes later, my parents arrived with Sprite and Pepto in hand. My dad laid his hands on my head and gave me a beautiful and inspired blessing. I received the most powerful and amazing sense of peace and the comfort that I felt was overwhelming. Our Heavenly Father was aware of what was going on in my life. He had heard my pleas for help. He was there for me. As my dad spoke, I truly was being tutored by the Spirit. I am grateful for the moments when my heart and mind are open and the Spirit can speak directly to me. I was promised that I would heal and that all would return back to normal. I knew that I needed to have the faith that all would be ok.

Shortly after my parents left, I cuddled up in my blankets and drifted off to sleep. I slept and slept. I don’t think that I have slept that good or that long in a very long time. When I woke up, even though I felt weak, I could feel my body start to heal. As I was cuddling with my blankets, my thoughts turned to the blessing that I had just received. The comfort and peace that I felt during the blessing was still present. I am grateful for a strong testimony of the power of priesthood blessings. I am grateful that I have a dad that is worthy and willing to be an instrument in the Lord’s hand. I am grateful for the tenderness that was shown towards me. I know that through faith and through this amazing blessing that I began to heal. Even though it took several days to finally feel like I could eat and feel somewhat normal, I knew that all would be well. I was promised and with that I my faith grew a little bit stronger.

~Michelle