Our Family - Blessings

 The more we looked, the more we saw that the Lord was blessing us. Here are just a few of the blessings we received from God.

Inspiration

Often I would just find a book sitting on a shelf or suggested on a computer page that was just what I needed to learn. Usually, in the morning when I wake up, answers and ideas just come to my mind. Sometimes I see a picture of the solution to a problem, such as seeing Garrett’s large cabinet in the den instead of the living room. 

When Garrett was serving at the temple on Saturday mornings, he had little time for the yard projects he wanted to do. One day he realized a quick way to dig out a channel by allowing the irrigation water to flood that area and soften the ground. Another time, he knew how he could put the dishwasher in the laundry room. He was able to get more done than if he had been home all Saturday.

As we studied the scriptures and other things, many solutions came to our mind. From my teaching training I learned new patterns for leading and teaching our children. We learned new and better ways of living which helped to free us from our old destructive family traditions. 

When I was answering feedback on the Church website, I would somehow find myself on the page with the answer right before me.  I just prayed, tried my best, and miraculous things happened.

We knew what houses to buy, what jobs to take, and things we should do. It was amazing!

Opportunities

We were both given the opportunity to join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while we were in our teens. 

Cheryl was able to receive an Elementary teaching certificate because her dad gave her inheritance money from her Grandpa Corwin Groom for her books and tuition and because her dad continued to give her child support money each month so she could live at BYU.  

Later, after our children were grown, I was given the opportunity to have a teaching career that was just right for me. For ten years I was able to teach creative writing and substitute in a third grade class.

Garrett was able to attend college using the GI bill to pay for classes. He earned a degree in Secondary Teaching and later a degree in Building Construction which led to future jobs in the training and maintenance departments at the post office.Garrett was able to switch over to the maintenance department over Christmas. 

The training that Garrett received through the postal maintenance training classes prepared him for retirement jobs as an inspector and handyman. 

Help

Garrett was protected the whole time he served in Vietnam. 

We each had many people who came into our lives when we were in our teen and college years who gave us a lot of support. 

We had helpful Institute, and college teachers.

Lew, my step-father, helped me get off to college and find 

the right place for me to live while I student taught. The woman we lived with was also on a low carbohydrate diet.  

Many people helped our children. One man allowed our son to hang around his car repair garage, another went with a son to grandparent day at the school, a couple trained and gave our children work, and some were kind in-laws.  

We had friends who taught us by their example, listened to our woes, and encouraged and supported us when times became rough. 

We had good medical care when we needed it and superb surgeons. We also were blessed to recover well. We are so grateful to be able to see and move. If we had lived in an earlier generation, we might have been restricted to bed or maybe not even be alive by our age.

 

As an RH- mother, we had the shot which was now available, so that we could have four healthy children. Each child needed medical assistance at birth, and we are grateful they all arrived safely. 

Peace

We were blessed to feel peace when we decided to marry, when our parents and grandparents died, when our children were born, and when we had difficult decisions to make such as which career to follow or where to live.

When I was having difficult pregnancies and deliveries, I was blessed to feel a sense of peace. 

When I was suffering severe panic attacks at night, my Savior came and stayed with me filling me with peace. 

Financial

Garrett was able to get a good paying, secure civil service job at the Post Office. He was one of the last employees to get full retirement benefits.

We were able to pay off all our debts not long after we began paying a full tithing. We were even able to pay off our house mortgage far earlier than expected.

 

We were able to sell the condo that Julene and Laura lived together in for a good price. We ended up getting back within $25 of the money we spent on the condo.

Garrett was able to start a Fix-It Fellow handyman business, a Home Maintenance business, a Home Inspection business, and a Commercial Inspection business. All of which did well. 

We were able to pay off the debts that were charged to our business in a reasonable amount of time. 

We had the money to move to Washington, Utah and pay off our home within a few months. 

We were able to sell our Mapleton house to a young couple who had two young children. This is what I really wanted.  After traveling five hours from Washington, Utah to Provo, Utah to sign the closing papers, our buyer fell through. A young couple called while we were still sitting at the lawyers office and wanted to see the house. We showed them the house, and they wanted to buy it. This gave us the money to pay off our home in Washington, Utah.

Family Relationships

Garrett was blessed to buy a large box truck for his business for only a few thousand dollars at a Postal auction. The catch was that Garrett had to pick the truck up in Akron, Ohio. This was where Garrett’s family lived. Garrett and his brother, Ken, flew out to Akron to get the truck. This gave them both the chance to see their father one last time. 

Garrett appreciated the help and the opportunity to have his son, David, and his brother, Ken, work with him in his businesses for a time.

Our daughter, Laura and her husband, Theon, and their little daughter came to visit us in Washington, Utah soon after we moved here. They felt well here and enjoyed the milder climate. Within a year of our move, they bought a home near us. Now we get to enjoy more time together as a family than we were able when we lived in Mapleton and they lived in Salt Lake .

Given nice things

We were blessed to have a much nicer home than our income allowed, because Garrett has the skills to fix up our homes himself. 

We were led to both of our houses. In Mapleton, we were sixth on the list of potential buyers, but moved into the house in six weeks on our wedding anniversary.

 In Washington, Utah we found our home in just four days only hours before the owner got another offer.  This house had so many little things that we had hoped to have such as roll out shelves in the kitchen and a large driveway for Garrett’s business truck.

When we realized that we needed a new vehicle, the first truck we were shown was the perfect truck for us. It was even in my favorite shade of yellow. 

Blessings that Didn’t happen

Some of our blessings were things that didn’t happen. Garrett saw a part of the freeway in his mind. That night when he had to stop in that exact spot to help a stranded car, he didn’t run across the freeway as he had intended, but carefully walked. The freeway turned out to be treacherous black ice. This warning saved his life.

All four of our children had difficult deliveries, but all entered this world safely. I felt peaceful and knew that all would be well. 

Our baby was caught before he fell off the tabernacle balcony, another baby son fell on his face onto cement and had only a split lip, our daughter, who didn’t know how to use bike brakes, was not hurt going down a steep hill, and our other daughter fell out of a tree when the rope swing broke and was alright. We were blessed that none of them were seriously hurt. 

People tried to sue us twice, but it fell through both times. The black widow hung over my toddlers head, but didn’t drop on him and bite him. Our adult children were not seriously hurt in their car accidents, and our grown son recovered well after being attacked by a fleeing murderer.  Garrett caught himself so that he didn’t fall down the stairs just before our daughter’s wedding, and I was just bruised after falling out of a trailer onto my face.

Yes, we have had many, many blessings.  

Poems

• see poems; gratitude, blessings of missionary service

• poems - Watched Over