tender mercies

The five years my mother was a single mother were quite challenging for our little family in many ways. Mother first took a job at the newspaper and then later enrolled in college. Although we didn’t lack the necessities of life, money was very tight. One of my diversions in those days was making a paper chain out of gum wrappers. I was probably 8 or 9. By cutting the paper outer wrapper of a piece of gum into two pieces lengthwise, giving it a few precise folds, the pieces could interlock (without glue). Adding more and more gum wrappers made a strong, quite beautiful, paper chain. The girls my age worked on their chains diligently, for the belief was that your true love would be as tall as your chain was long.

Needless to say, we didn’t buy much chewing gum, so my true love would not be tall... I was in the habit of looking for gum wrappers everywhere I went. I seemed to find what I needed, for my chain steadily grew, but my practice of picking up “trash” off the streets rather annoyed my mother. That is until one mid-November night. We were out after dark, walking home from downtown. I was scouting the streets for wrappers and found a ten-dollar bill! I picked it up and said, “Look!” My mother snatched that out of my hand so quickly, and dancing for joy, exclaimed, “We will have thanksgiving dinner!”

She didn’t complain about my hunting gum wrappers anymore, and I learned a lesson about the tender mercies of God. Because of His love for each of us, things that are important to us are also important to him. I’m sure it delighted Him to provide that ten-dollar bill for me to find. There have been many other occasions since, when my needs, though seemingly insignificant in the grand scheme of things, have been important enough to Him to provide for. When I get discouraged, I need only ask for help and it will come, in the form of His tender mercies, tender mercies that remind me, “I am here, you are important to me.”