The Lord is at Work in His Kingdom

Here is evidence the Lord is at work here on earth:

 

When I was first called as the YM President in the Kenyon Ward, I wanted to meet all the young men and make an assessment on how each was doing and what could be done to help them.  One young man, Dominic Reaser, was one of the young men who wasn't attending the ward.  I recall knowing that Dominic had a very characteristic look; light-skinned with a white/platimum blond afro.  I'd seen him maybe two or three times in my life, the last time I recall seeing him was several years ago when he was much younger.  I can't recall meeting his mother, Aliesha, however.

 

My attempts to contact them were as follows: I tried calling their phone number, but it was disconnected.  I visited their home, but they had moved.  I tried to get their forwarding address, but none was provided to the postal service.  I tried to find them on Facebook, but couldn't locate them.  I solicited the help of a member that used to be an investigator to see what his resources could offer, but to no avail.  I had almost given up hope.

 

Then, on October 4th, 2012, I was driving north on Alvernon Rd. in Tucson with my daughter, Morgan, to her bicycling team practice when I noticed two individuals walking southward.  I got a strong impression that the two individuals were Dominic and Aliesha Reaser, though I had not recognized them as such.  I thought about the impression for a few seconds, then I whipped the car around in the middile of the street.  Morgan looked at me with a very puzzling look, and I told her, "Trust me Morgan, just trust me on this."  I drove about one block south on Alvernon, then turned into a parking lot ahead of where they were walking.  I parked the car and got out.  I walked toward them as they continued to walk southward.  I asked the woman, "Do you happen to know Aliesha Reaser?"  She responded, "I am Aliesha Reaser."  I responded, "I thought so."

 

We talked for a little while, and I asked for their new contact information, which they whole heartedly provided.  I advised them to attend their new ward, the Binghampton Ward, and they indicated they would.  I provided their information to our ward clerk, who promptly forwarded their information on to their new ward and bishop, who can help shepherd the Reasers.

 

God showed me He is in charge and will grant our righteous desires when I saw Dominic and Aliesha Reaser walking down Alvernon.  I didn't hesitate to turn the car around to go talk to them... I knew it was Providence that caused our paths to cross.  This is His work.  This is His Church and Kingdom on earth.  I am thankful to be a part of it.

Ivy's 2nd Birthday

We spent Ivy's 2nd Birthday at Joseph & Lisa's.  It was a boat load of fun.  But Ivy slept through it all...

When Mom Sleeps In on Mother's Day!

Ivy Falling Asleep in Her High Chair

Future NRA Poster Boy!

When my brothers and their families came to town over the holidays, we went shooting and Dan LOVED it. My dad has a little 22 and it's perfect for the little guys. It's a single shot, bolt action rifle that he got pretty good with.

It was awesome to spend the morning with good folk, reinforcing our 2nd Amendment Right to Bear Arms. It was even more awesome to get to experience it with my son!

After More Thn 50 Years, The Arbor Vitae Was Removed

With the help of Dan and Pete, we removed the huge Arbor Vitae tree that was on the southeast corner of our house this past week. The roots had caused two sewer line back-ups in the past year, so it was time to go.

The Devourer Was Rebuked for Our Sakes

Do you remember "Show and Tell" in elementary school, when someone gets to bring something they think is really cool to class and they show it to classmates and tell everyone about why this thing is cool? Well I have a "Show and Tell" moment for you.

For as long as I can recall living in our house here on Timrod St., the bathtub faucet has leaked. We've probably wasted hundreds of gallons of water with its dripping. Well, a couple Saturdays ago, I decided to fix it. So I went to Home Depot and got the needed parts (handle, spigot, mixer valve springs/washers, etc). I shut off the water to the house and started removing the mixer valve cap, but it was stubborn, so I had to apply some extra force to get the cap to loosen. Well the cap didn't loosen, the whole valve rotated... NOT good. This means I bent the copper lines coming into the valve! Great... what do I do now? I looked into the hole in the wall to see what kind of damage I'd done and noticed that water is now rapidly dripping out of one of the junction points. The bad part is that now the water is dripping INSIDE the wall! When I looked closely, I could see the crack in the junction point. It was obvious that the whole valve would need to be replaced.

I sat down on the side of the tub to think about what to do and I offered up a silent prayer that could be summarized as, "Heavenly Father, please help me know what to do now."

So I took a couple pictures of the mixer valve and how it was fed by the now bent copper lines to aid me in my next trip to Home Depot. I then left for Home Depot. After spending what I thought was too much money on replacement parts, I returned home. Then I examined the hole to see if I would be able to replace the valve assembly without ripping a huge hole in the wall. I was able to make the hole in the wall slightly larger, so I figured that it was worth an attempt to try and replace valve by unsoldering the existing connections and removing the old cracked valve assembly. After a few fruitless attempts, I turned the water to the house back on as I realized I was going to have to rip apart the wall for access to the valve assembly.

Before ripping the wall apart, I decided to look inside the wall to make sure I wasn't going to create another huge problem by ripping apart the shower wall. What did I notice? THE VALVE ASSEMBLY WAS NO LONGER LEAKING! What?!? I decided to look again. Nothing... no drips at all at any kind!

I was perplexed to say the least. So I went an made sure the water pressure to the house was still on/high. It was. To this day, I can accredit this miracle to one thing only: tithing. I immediately dropped to my knees there next to the bathtub to express thanks for the blessing of paying tithing.

Towards the end of the Old Testament, the prophet Malachi records: "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts." (Malachi 3: 10-11). Now I don't have vines that produce fruit (at least not right now), so what could possibly be considered the equivalent "fruits" or "vines" in my days/life? For one, a shower/bath-tub faucet mixer valve.

The destroyer of bathroom faucets was rebuked for our sakes. He couldn't destroy the fruits of my bathroom plumbing before its time in the wall. I know God lives and keeps His promises. Why? Because He did for me with the bathtub faucet mixer valve, and I'm nothing special that I should warrant special attention. I can't and won't dispute the miracle here. It's plain as day to me.