I have a friend who, over this past spring and summer, experienced heartbreak because her 18-year-old daughter moved out and away and refused to keep in contact with her. The daughter had told her mom not to talk to her about religion. She also said that she didn’t want to go to the college close by, but she would be moving out to attend a college that was further away and cost more. The mom missed her daughter terribly and worried about her. She wondered how she was paying her bills and surviving physically and spiritually. Anytime she reached out to her daughter, the daughter wouldn’t reply. So my friend, the mom, started praying that someone would cross their path, either the mom’s path or the daughter’s, to help the situation somehow.

After months of praying, the blessing came! My friend was at a public building in a small town, miles away from her hometown. Who should walk in but someone in a leadership position associated with this college where the daughter was attending. This person talked to my friend and found out her daughter was going to college there. This person offered to reach out to the daughter and help her find a job. My friend said that after she told her daughter about this person and the offer to find a job, her daughter started talking to her again. Now they communicate back and forth often. My friend bore testimony to me that God indeed loves us and watches over us. He answers our prayers. He sends people to cross our paths to help us. I know this is true too as I have experienced it as well. Praise God for these tender mercies!

To quote President Spencer W. Kimball:

“The Lord does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs. Therefore, it is vital that we serve each other. The righteous life is achieved as we magnify our view of life, and expand our view of others and of our own possibilities. Thus, the more we follow the teachings of the Master, the more enlarged our perspective becomes. We see many more possibilities for service than we would have seen without this magnification. There is great security in spirituality, and we cannot have spirituality without service!” (source)