The Profound Promise

The Profound Promise

      Regretfully, I have not kept a daily Journal most of my life. I did, however, keep one for several years during one of the busiest times of my life when I was 42 years old. I was a young wife, mother of six busy, involved children, and daughter and caretaker of two invalid and very frail parents, my mother and father who lived next door to our family on Mobley Drive in Boise, Idaho. I read that journal today for the first time in many years. I had actually forgotten I had even written it.

     When my mother died May 28, 1982, it was a very difficult time for us. She had died at home as she had requested. I was with her, loving her until her last breath. I still had my very fragile Father for whom to care. I planned her funeral and all that it entailed. It seemed like the absolute end for us in a way because Jim had lost his job the day before my mother died. He, along with 860 other     employees, were laid off work at Boise Cascade. They downsized! It had been our forever dream job. We were absolutely numb, and then the next day, Mother died. I cried out, “Oh God, Where are you?” and wondered if we had the strength to go on in life! We went through the motions of living!

     My brothers and sisters and other extended family came for her funeral service. Edna Sorensen Millar was the youngest of 14 children. She died when she was 76 years of age. Several of her own family still living, a brother and sisters, came to Boise for the funeral. Her brother, Wesley Sorensen, of Salt Lake City, affectionately called Uncle Brick (because he had red hair) came, and I asked him as a Melchizedek Priesthood holder to give the dedicatory prayer on her grave to represent the Sorensen side of the family. Mother was so proud of her heritage! I hadn’t, prior to this, been very close to him during my lifetime. During the funeral service, my brother, Steven, had given Mother’s life sketch, and told of the care that Jim and I were giving my parents.

      At the end of the day and after everything was concluded and people were leaving, Uncle Brick came to me privately and quietly said these profound words to me which I would not have remembered had I not written them down in my journal!

    “Carol Ann, I feel prompted to tell you that great blessings are in   store for you, because you took loving care of your parents. I am impressed to tell you that blessings will come to you—through your children’s lives, that they will be valiant and strong in the Church, serve good missions, marry well, and love the Lord all their lives.”                                                    Uncle Brick Sorensen, Boise, Idaho, June 4, 1982

     I entered that promise in my journal that night and added the following, “That truly would be a special blessing.” And, I have never looked at that journal entry again...until today as I was working on my history!

      As I write this today, June 12, 2019, some 37 years later, with trembling fingers, I know that this blessing came to me by the way of my uncle, an inspired Priesthood holder, through the Spirit of the Lord. It was delivered to me on that difficult funeral day, June 4, 1982. This has had a very profound effect on me today because this promise indeed came to be!  

      We did carry on and raised this young family amid life’s ongoing trials and challenges. I think my parents (now on the other side of the veil) may have played a significant role in helping along the way. These wonderful children are all grown up now. Four of the six: Susan, David, Brian, and Natalie did go on successful full-time missions. Five of the six: Susan, Jill, Lisa, David, and Brian were married in the temple, Natalie is single, and all are valiant in their testimonies and do love the Lord! I’d like to add also, that all six are temple worthy which is a great blessing! And, they have blessed us with 17 incredible grandchildren, nine of whom have gone on or are on missions (with more to come). Also, they are marrying well and beginning to have little “greats.”

     Thanks, Uncle Brick, for blessing me with this profound promise, so I could share it with our family!

                                                                        Carol Ann Millar Shepherd, recorded 6-12-19