Our Hands are His hands.

I recently had an experience forced me to really think about how our hands are His hands. (I appologize for the length, but it was a definite testimony strengthening experience for me!)

     A few weeks ago I had packed up my kids (age 4yrs. & 11 mo.) and was headed to my parents house for the weekend. I was driving along and boom, my back tire exploded. I thankfully was able to stay in control of the car and was able to pull off to the side of the highway. Unfortunately, the tire that blew was my spare. I definitely had a little moment that I lost it and was mad about the situation I was in. Dusk was starting to set, my husband was  few hours away teaching a class at a neighboring university, and I have my very concerned 4 year old and sleeping 11 month old in the back seat… oh, and being feet from a very fast moving highway. I called my husband knowing that I needed assistance. A tow was needed and I needed someone to help get my family off the side of the road to safety.
     By the time I hung up the phone someone was pulling off to come to my aid. A man about my fathers age had pulled off. He approached the car. As he was coming, I asked silently to my Heavenly Father if I could trust this man, I heard an immediate YES. He approached us and asked to help. He worked for Goodyear tires and (obviously) knew his way around busted tires. He spoke directly and said that we needed to get my children to a safer place. He lived barely 500 yards away from where I had pulled off. He asked if it would be alright to take us to his house where his wife was to wait until our car was towed. Again, I asked my Heavenly Father if I could trust him and I heard YES. He also mentioned that he supplied tires to a garage that he trusts completely and would be happy to call in a favor to have us towed. It just so happened that the garage he spoke of was under a half mile of my home (clear on the opposite side of town from where we were).
     He called and found that it would only take 20 minutes to get the tow truck to us. He then helped get my children off the side of the road and to his home where his extremely welcoming wife was. He returned back to my car to wait to get it towed. Once the car was towed he came back and drove us to the garage and then on to our home.

     The whole time this was going on I could not contain how extremely grateful I was to him and his wife and their extreme hospitality and Christian attitude. They would simply reply stating that we are here on this earth to serve those around us and we were to be instruments of the Lord.
     As he was driving us to the garage he shared that he was just coming home from being out of town for business. He saw us as he was getting ready to pull off the highway to return home (and I’m sure a comfy recliner or something) and he saw us. He said that he simply asked the Lord out loud ‘Should I stop and help?’ and he heard YES.

     When we got home my son and I instantly knelt in prayer to offer our gratitude for the seamless blessings that poured onto us and asked to help us be more like this Good Samaratian who stopped to save us.

The blessing that poured onto us were undeniable. A man who worked for a tire company stopped to help us. He had a buddy who could tow us… to a garage a stones through from my home. His home was just around the corner and took us there for safe keeping. Heavenly Father DEFINITELY put the exact right person in my path when I needed him the most.

The impression that was left most was the thought “am I allowing my hands to be His hands?” Am I living my life in a way that I can receive and listen to the promptings of the spirit when my hands are needed to answer someones prayer? What can I do to live my life that way?

These are questions that we all need to ask ourselves. We are here to be instruments of our loving Heavenly Father. Closing, there is a clip from one of Elder Utchdorf’s conference addresses that focuses on this topic. I encourage you all to watch, listen, then go forth allow your hands to be His hands.

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/messages/2010/04/our-hands-can-become-his-hands?lang=eng&query=hands+picture