I’m not sure if miracles are abundant in your life, but mine has been full of amazing ones. I can recount numerous times when the Lord has blessed me with large and small miracles that have given me reassurances that He knows me and loves me. The one miracle that returns to my memory, especially at this time of year, is the miracle of the vegetables.

I know—vegetables. How can it be that this one thing continues to remind me that God is in the details of our lives? Because it was unexpected and unasked for, just a simple occurrence. Nothing fancy but greatly needed. But I get ahead of myself.

The story began many years ago when my husband Dean served as the bishop of our ward. He had asked the members of our ward to share our ward Christmas party with Seniors living in a state funded, low-income center.

The different organizations took their assignments and ran with them. One member of the ward bought poinsettias to help with the decorations and to give to residents of the building. Other ward members organized the dinner and program. People signed up for food, decorating, and set-up/clean-up. The day of the event came.

Many of us arrived at the center, prepared to set-up for the event. Soon the dining room was festive with poinsettias, garlands, and Christmas place settings. Food began to arrive and was placed in food warmers. Everything that is except the vegetables. Either those assignments somehow didn’t get made or people forgot. We never knew. But the amount of vegetables needed for several hundred people just didn’t come. We hoped that they were on their way, but still nothing. It was determined that we would mix what veggies we had together and hope that they would at least serve the Seniors.

Dinner serving began. Of course, the Seniors were served first. Plate after plate was sent out to the dining room. The vegetable warming tray was full of juice, and we really couldn’t see what was in the pan. Soon all the Seniors were served, and ward members were lining up for food. Dip after dip in the warming tray brought up generous portions of vegetables, long after what had been put in the tray should have been gone. All the Seniors and ward members had lots of vegetables that night. At the end of the evening we even had leftover vegetables!

Dipping that ladle all night taught me a valuable lesson: God sees our needs and supplies them in ways that we often can’t explain or understand. The vegetables were a simple part of that holiday meal and could have been eliminated if needed. But God knew we needed a miracle to share that evening. Many of the Seniors commented on how fun the evening was and how good the dinner tasted. Every one ward member went about serving and sharing their party with the Seniors.

If you don’t think that miracles exist in your life, look again. Each day our Heavenly Father touches our lives as we work to find our ancestors, often in ways that seem small and insignificant. We just need to open our eyes and feast upon the miracles that are placed in our paths each day.