taking a tumble

One night Sister Coy and I were out with our ward mission leader, Brother Barney. If you don't know Brother Barney (which basically everyone in Chandler does), he's pretty much the sweetest man EVER! He's a little older and everyone loves him---and of course,  he loves everybody back. We went to go and contact a couple of people in our ward, and one of them lived in an apartment complex. We climbed up to the second floor and knocked.
And knocked again.
And rang the doorbell.
No luck. But that's not really too unusual. We determined that he wasn't home and were leaving to go to the next place when Brother Barney fell down the stairs!
I didn't tell you, but Brother Barney is also the kind of person who laughs off everything, and makes a joke of it all.  But when I turned from the sound of the fall, I saw him practically upside-down on the staircase. It was so sad to see him that way! After a split second, he stood up, checked the damage (a few holes in his suit pants), and laughed it off.
Of course, he didn't think much of it, but Sister Coy and I were so sad about it! Watching him limp back to his car was really sad, and the whole rest of the night after he left I couldn't stop thinking about it. I felt literally sick thinking about it.
As we were headed back to the church to load our bikes onto the back of the car, lo and behold, there was Brother Barney--out walking the dogs.  Relief swept over me. We stopped and talked to him, and he was doing just fine.  As we were driving home that night we realized what a tender mercy the Lord provided for us that night!

Obviously, it wasn't a big deal (in fact, his wife said he got two new suits out of it!). But it was to us, and so Heavenly Father assured us that everything was okay and that we didn't need to worry. Some people might not consider that timely appearance a miracle--but I know that God's hand was a part of it!!
And who would've thought that seeing a friendly man walking his dogs late at night would bring so much joy to us?!

"The Lord's tender mercies are the very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurance, guidance, loving-kindnesses, consolation, support, and spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Truly, the Lord suits 'his mercies according to the conditions of the children of men.' (D&C 46:15)" 

(Elder Bednar)

Learn more about Brother Barney and Mormons!