THE MARLENI MIRACLE

Marleni and Hermana Gomez

Why does it take a miracle for me to recognize the Lord's hand in my daily life? This week I had a great reminder that sometimes things happen to us for a reason. We were hoping to get to the temple with Bill and Robbie Taft (dental equipment experts) before they had to go home. They wanted to be able to say that they had been to the Guatemalan temple. I was a little nervous because the afternoon was rapidly getting away from us. We were having everyone over to our apartment for a taco bar to celebrate the equipment being installed.

We made it to the temple and got the last 4 spots for the 4pm session. It took until about 4:25 for the session to start. It took us quite a while to finish the session and be prepared to change clothes and go home. The session was wonderful. I really do appreciate the perspective that attending the temple gives me. It just lets me be apart from the cares of the world. I was relaxed and ready to enjoy the rest of the evening as we went back.

We found out that there were several groups from Honduras attending the temple that day. Most of the buses were from San Pedro Sula, so we didn't see many people that we knew. As I was going back to the women's changing area my eyes met those of a sister waiting to enter her session. It was MARLENI.....our dear Marleni....who served in the mission home in Comayaguela with the Gomez and Flores families. We just love her. I was so excited to see her and she was equally excited to see me. She just kept saying Hermana Tomkinson. She told me that her son is entering the CCM in January to serve in Panama.

I never would have seen Marleni if I had been 2 minutes earlier or 2 minutes later. It was great talking to her and catching up. The Lord knew that I needed to have that lift and remembrance that he really is in charge of our lives. It was the perfect time to be in the temple....even though I originally thought that it would wreck my entire day if we got to the temple late in the afternoon...

I just need to listen a little closer.....