My Helmet Story: Tender Mercy or Coincidence

I am now in my third year of posting on this blog and have posted a total of 5 or 6 "deeper" posts. Oddly enough, it seems that all of them have come recently. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing. Either way, here comes one more than is a little more personal.

My post begins with a story. Last Saturday Kirt Melling and his dad dropped me off at the Spudman triathlon transition area where Kirt would finish the swim and my bike would begin. They then headed off to the area where the swim would start. About a minute later, I realized in horror that I had left my helmet back at the Melling home. Race rules would prohibit me from racing without a helmet (not to mention it isn't a good idea for safety sake). I just about dropped an expletive when I made the discovery and, frankly, am pretty proud I held it in. Though I didn't drop to my knees in prayer, my mind was racing asking how it could work out for me to still race. I decided to walk out and see if I could hitch a ride with a local as the Mellings didn't live that far away. I had about 20 minutes before Kirt would begin to swim and figured it would take him another 20 minutes to complete the swim. I figured that worst of all, I could probably run to the Mellings and back in about 45 minutes, but I would be exhausted for the rest of the race and that would really stink.

As I dejectedly headed out to see what luck I might have "thumbing" a ride, I immediately spotted Jeff and Melanie Lambert from my ward. When I described my plight they didn't hesitate at all to drive me over to get my helmet (with some risk that they would be late for the race themselves).

I hate to admit it, but I sorta just shrugged this off to great luck and went on the race. However, as I biked and ran amongst so many competitors (over 1,750 competed) Elder Bednar's 2005 conference talk (found here) kept coming back to my mind.

He said, "Some may count this experience as simply a nice coincidence, but I testify that the tender mercies of the Lord are real and that they do not occur randomly or merely by coincidence. Often, the Lord's timing of His tender mercies helps us to both discern and acknowledge them."

I, too, testify that this was not a random occurence. I have a loving Heavenly Father who knew that although this wasn't important in the grand eternal scheme, to me on that morning it was a big deal. After the race, I spent a lot of time trying to find the Lamberts to thank them for their help. I never did spot them again amongst all the participants. Coincidence that I just happened to see them at exactly the right time earlier that morning?

As I said before, this could be easily chalked up to good luck. However, I am so grateful for this little experience as it reassured me of the many other ways, both big and small, that my Heavenly Father watches over me. I hope to work harder to be worthy of these tender mercies.