Power in the Priesthood

I have always had a pretty strong faith and belief in the power of the priesthood. I've utilized it many a time throughout my life, and Heavenly Father has always come through for me (not that I ever doubted He would). I had a great roommate and friend in college who asked me once if she would like me to write down what was said in the blessing. The thought had never occurred to me, and I was honestly a little taken back. How sweet that advice was and how much I continue to cherish it today. She wrote down the words from the blessing I received that night, and I read it often.

There seems to be recurring themes for me whenever I receive a priesthood blessing. If you would oblige me for a moment, I would like list just a few.

1. My Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love me

2. They are proud of me

3. Seek guidance from the scriptures

These three have always come up (along with a few others) in each blessing I have received since college (basically the ones I have asked for and have had very spiritual experiences during). The one that always hits me so close to home though is that my Heavenly Father loves me, and so does Jesus Christ. In that moment, when those words are spoken, I have to catch my breath. My chest starts pounding, and it is undeniably the Spirit speaking to my soul that this is true. That He does love me. Me! For all my faults and short comings, I'm still striving to do what is right, and He loves me.

Wednesday of last week, I woke up with a sore throat. I did not think too much of it, but I started taking Mucinex like it's nobody's business. (See this post and you'll understand.) My best friend is getting married this week, and I did not want to be sick. Anyway, Wednesday came and went. Thursday rolls around, still have a sore throat, and little bit of head congestion. Keep taking Mucinex. After I got out of class, I had a bunch of errands to run, mostly groceries so I wouldn't have to buy any till after we got back from Arizona.

I came home, took a shower, got ready (well...I did my hair) and headed off to Costco. As I was driving, and later shopping through Costco, I could feel my body weakening, and this distinct ache in the back of my chest. It only got worse, and I pretty seriously considered not going to WalMart. Then I remembered...we have no food in the fridge. Dan needs something to eat for dinner. Suck it up and go. So I did. I called Dan though (he was on his way to an Elder's quorum meeting) and asked if he  could find another person to help give me a blessing. I had clinical the next day and really could not (nor did I want to) miss it. He said he would. I soldiered on.

Almost. Making it out of WalMart was a struggle. By this point (and I'm not even exaggerating), I had absolutely no confidence in my muscle strength to keep me moving. I was literally trying to get out of WalMart as fast as I could so I could get home. My back was aching furiously and it was all I could do to wait to cry till I got home.

Being the great nursing student I am, I figured I either had a cold or the flu...though a sinking feeling told me it was the flu. I was not having it. WebMD was anything but vague, so I made some soup and crawled into bed with the Office, praying that Dan would get home soon.

He did and I was able to receive a blessing. I had a thought in my mind as they laid their hands on my head: Heavenly Father, I'm turning this over to you. I can't do it anymore. Pretty much those exact words. I was promised that my faith would make me whole. I sincerely prayed that night to help my body heal so that I could at least function at clinical the next day. I went to be around 830 that night. I woke up at 1230 still not feeling great, but went back to sleep. 530 rolled around and I jumped right out of bed. Felt like I had never been better. My body did not hurt at all! No small miracle in my opinion. I really wanted to die the night before.

It not only gave me an incredible amount of peace, but also faith and knowledge that my Heavenly Father is aware of me. Completely. He knows my needs, and the desires of my heart. He also allows me to grow in faith. I'm so so grateful that I had the prompting, thought, inspiration, whatever you want to call it, to ask for a blessing. Somewhere in my mind I knew that that was the only way I was going to make it to clinical the next day.

He delivered...like He always does. This experience was extremely evident, but it only helped me to see that He always answers, and always lives up to His promises. Perhaps not always in ways that we can see, but He does. And the answers are always in ways that we need.