Wake Up Calls

I believe that Heavenly Father gives us spiritual wake up calls--good and bad, to remind or chastise, but let's focus on the good. Like when you go to church and feel a rejuvenation and a renewed desire to improve, or when you go to the temple and receive comfort and instruction to just calm down and trust in God, or when you receive a confirmation of God's love for you that you seem to have slightly strayed from.

Well today was one of those beautiful days. But I got a wake up call for my focus in life:  recognizing God's hand. Isn't that ironic? My Divine Signature was about recognizing Divine Signatures.

Like a normal college student, I was eating Taco Bell in the Wilk before work. I saw an older woman walking towards my table with a bunch of bags and food, and she asked if she could share the table I was at. I said yes and kept studying for my test and eating my taco until she asked me what my major was. I replied and reciprocated, and she told me she was studying religious education and still had a while to go. Then I couldn't get her to stop talking about the gospel! (Which was great, of course, it just caught me a tad off-guard). She just kept saying how everything comes from God and that His way is the only way. She talked so fast with her Tongan accent that it was a little hard to hear everything. Then she just opened this large, spiral bound book full of quotes from prophets and apostles to show me her favorite quotes. She kept quoting them and saying, "He's right, you know..." and going off on how they have said how much we need God. 

At first, I was timid and wanting to eat and study uninterrupted. But then as she kept talking, and I'm sure others were watching with curiosity, I couldn't help but smile and prompt her along-even though I could barely get a few words in while she was talking. She told me about her life as a convert and told me how lucky I was to live in the gospel, knowing the true meaning of life.

When I told her I had to go, she offered to give me her large book. What?! How was I supposed to take this stranger's prized possession? She told me she had another copy in her bag. Only that lady would. But honestly, what an example: of a member missionary, of a friend, of an example of light and truth, of living your testimony, of a witness of the Prophet's divine calling, and of Christ. So I left with her book, happy to have met this example of living what you know with gratitude for God's Divine Signatures. What a wake up call. Anyone need a book? ;)



How have you recognized God today?