Episode Four: The Autism Journey: Finding Miracles After "No" with Tamara K. Anderson
Tamara K. Anderson
Anderson Family 2005
2006 Raising four children with autism, ADHD, and mental health hurdles.
2024
Contact Our Guest
Socials: FB & IG @tamarakanderson; @womenwarriorsoflight
Website: Tamarakanderson.com and WomenWarriorsofLight.com
Podcasts: Stories of Hope in Hard Times; Bible, Women & Bathrobes; Coming soon Women Warriors of Light podcast
Books: Normal for Me ( parents of special needs children can request a free copy on Tamara’s website); Guided by Grace: Setting & Achieving Goals with God (on Amazon or her website); The Mother’s Mite, A Broken Down Holiday–these booklets are only available on her website.
Transcript
Intro: Welcome to Latter-day Miracles, where we share true stories of angels and marvels. Get ready to enjoy accounts from everyday people that remind us of divine love, that we're never truly alone, and the power of faith in these latter days. I'm Haley Hatch Freeman. And I'm Misty Smith. Sit back, open your heart and prepare to be inspired.
Haley Freeman: Welcome to Latter Day Miracles. I am so excited to bring one of my most favorite people ever. Tamara is the reason that I've been able to do this journey. She has been a mentor in this podcasting journey of mine, and I'm excited for her to share some miracles in her life. I first met her when, I was on her podcast, the Stories of Hope in Hard Times where I was able to share my story and we just connected and our journeys have crossed through the years, and I'm just excited for her [00:01:00] to share her story. And I'm gonna have Misty read her introduction and then we'll turn the time over to her.
Misty Smith: Alright. Okay. Tamara k Anderson is the founder of Women Warriors of Light, an organization that helps women step boldly into the divine mission, an award-winning author, speaker, and podcaster.
She inspires hope and healing in Jesus Christ. She is the host of Bible Women and Bathrooms. I love that name, and has hosted and co-hosted other faith-based podcasts. Alongside her husband , Justin, she navigates the joys and challenges of raising four children with autism, ADHD, and mental health hurdles.
Tamara loves reading, hiking, gardening, and tackling projects with kitchen gadgets and power tools. That's amazing. So Tamara. Let's go ahead and hear about your miracle story that you have. I've [00:02:00] heard you have lots,
Tamara K. Anderson: oh my goodness. Well, it's, it's a joy to be here with you guys today and it is so interesting how, um.
In preparing for this, you know, in your mind you're like, oh, I could tell that story and I could tell this story. And I kind of made a list and I typed him up and I'm like, okay. And then this past Sunday, um, I woke up and the spirit was very, very clear about, Nope. This is what you need to share. And I'm like, okay, well then we'll talk about that,
Misty Smith: How it goes.
Tamara K. Anderson: I know. So, uh, the good news is God knows exactly what he wants me to share and sometimes I. Uh, he wants us to share things that are fun to share, and sometimes he wants us to share things that are a little bit tender to our hearts. And so, I'm gonna apologize in advance because, the story I'm gonna tell you today is a little tender and, um, it, I'm gonna take you back about, uh, [00:03:00] 22 years.
Uh, 22 years ago, our son, Nathan, who is our second oldest son, was officially diagnosed with autism. And, um, sorry. Here we go. It. It, it broke me. It really did. I remember driving home. We lived in Arkansas at the time and driving home from that diagnosis, and I sobbed and sobbed and sobbed uncontrollably and, um, my husband finally had to pull off the freeway and just try to calm and comfort me because I just, , it was like all my dreams for Nathan.
And, and honestly for my life had just been shattered. And I just, I didn't even know how to handle that. Um, obviously I was unprepared. I knew it was a possibility because they'd been talking about it for a while. He was four years old at the time, and he'd been in speech therapy and [00:04:00] occupational therapy and all this, uh, because he wasn't very verbal at the time.
And so I knew it was a possibility, but I was kind of living in denial at the time. Mm-hmm. And so just hearing it was just earth shattering for me. And I remember, um, coming home from that , and telling my husband, I said, we just have to have enough faith that God can heal him, and he totally can.
And so I began praying for a miracle. , I knew I'd seen so many miracles in my life that I knew it was possible. Um, and I had enough faith in God that I knew he could do this. Like I knew that nothing was beyond him. I mean, for heaven's sakes, he's raised the dead, you know? Mm-hmm. And so I was begging and pleading for a miracle.
[00:05:00] And, um, that lasted for about a year, honestly, where I just begged and pleaded and I told my husband, you just need to give him a blessing.
Haley Freeman: Mm-hmm.
Tamara K. Anderson: You know, you can do it. And, and my husband being much wiser than I was. He says, Tamara, I have, I prayed about it too. And I don't feel that's the blessing the Lord wants to give him.
I didn't wanna hear that. You know what I mean? I, um, I'm a wee bit stubborn and so, um, I kind of battled it out. I you with God for the next year and, uh, the next year at General conference, I heard a talk that, um, it pierced me a little bit. Because I had been praying and praying and praying for a miracle, and sometimes the miracle we're asking for isn't the miracle we need.
And, um, [00:06:00] that, that year at general conference, there was a talk given by Elder Dennis Simmons and, um, it was called, "But If Not", and, he talked about what true faith looked like, because I'd been talking about if I just have enough faith, then this will happen. If I just work hard enough. If I just do this, if I just do this, maybe I'm not reading my scriptures faithful enough, maybe I'm not going to the temple enough.
Maybe, you know, I, I just kept seeing it as there must be something wrong, something that I'm not doing to get this miracle right. And, um. And in this talk, Elder Simmons talked about that true faith is having faith like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego when they were told to bow down to this idol that King Nebuchadnezzar had, made.
And they said, no, we're not gonna bow down to it. And he said, then you're, we're gonna throw you in the fiery furnace. [00:07:00] But I love, I love their words, and I'm just gonna, Pick up my scriptures here because I actually ended up, um, hasting this talk into my scriptures because that's how meaningful it was.
Like God was totally talking to Tamara.
Misty Smith: I love that.
Tamara K. Anderson: I know, I know. I love that. It's a great talk. Anyway, but he, but basically they told King Nebuchadnezzar, they said. If it be so basically if you cast us into the furnace, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and he will deliver us out of thy hand.
So that's the kind of faith I was talking about right there. God, I know you can do it. I know you can do it. I know you can heal my son. And then, and then this phrase that, I know I've heard it before in the scriptures, but it just was like, wait, what's that? When did that op into the scriptures? I don't know.
He then continues, but they then [00:08:00] demonstrated that they fully understood what faith is. They continued, but if not, we will not serve thy gods nor worship the golden image which thou has set up. They knew that God had the power. But it was their test. And he says that later in this talk. And I remember when he said that, I was just like, oh, is that what real faith is, knowing that God has the power, but it's my test.
And the true test of faith is trusting God no matter which way it goes. Are you still gonna trust God if he heals your sons? Obviously, yes. But will you still trust him if he doesn't? And I remember, yeah, go ahead Haley. Oh,
Haley Freeman: I'm sorry. I was gonna say my dad was diagnosed with, pulmonary, , [00:09:00] fibrosis and it's, it's fatal.
And when me and my mom was doing the same thing, we were like, well, let's just give you a blessing. Let's just get you healed and. He said to us, I know you guys have the faith for me to be healed, but do you have the faith for me not to be? And he did. He passed away, um, just a couple years after that diagnosis.
Tamara K. Anderson: Oh. And I tell you, you know, until you're facing that kind of a situation where the miracle you want isn't happening, it becomes a true test of faith like. I knew at that point in my life, I couldn't say, God, I know you have the power to heal my boys, but if not, it'll be okay because I didn't feel like it would,
I didn't feel like I could survive that. You know what I mean?
Misty Smith: Right. I, I was gonna say something that stuck out to me when [00:10:00] you were saying that you have, you just had to ask like you. You were, you were asked to ask for miracles. And so that right there is showing faith already. And for some that's, that's hard.
So in a way, you were showing faith, but it's the faith that you knew. I've learned that God is a God of teaching and he just loves layering and teaching. So for listeners, sometimes it's just asking and having the faith to ask. In your case, it's a step beyond that, and I, I just think it's amazing that you were able to learn that already, um, from the beginning, that you were able to learn, that you had to go above what you were comfortable asking.
Tamara K. Anderson: Well, and, and, and honestly, um. I think God sends us the answers as we're ready to hear them. Hmm. I've been begging for a [00:11:00] miracle for like over a year, you know? Mm-hmm. And God's like, she's not getting the message, you know? So we're gonna have this general authority give this talk. And when he's giving it, I'm just gonna poke her over the head, two by four, her over the head and say hello, Tamara.
This is what you're seeing. Do you know what I mean? This is the piece that you're missing. Faith isn't just believing I can do it. It's trusting me whether I do it or not. Right. You know? And that, Ooh, that was hard. And I left that general conference knowing what I was missing. Mm-hmm. And so my prayer to God wasn't that prayer of, but if not, because I knew I wasn't there yet.
My prayer to God after that general conference was.
I see what you're asking me to do and I'm not there yet. Help me to get there. [00:12:00] Help me to get to the point where I can say, I know you can heal my boys. but if not, I'll be okay, because I wasn't feeling it at that moment. Everything was still too raw and too hard, and. Our third son actually ended up getting diagnosed with autism as well, and so it was heavy and these kids don't sleep well and they don't communicate well, and there was lots of tantrums.
So it's not just accepting it, it's also dealing with the day in and day out stress of having a couple of kids with special needs that, I mean, I was physically exhausted, emotionally exhausted, worn out, wholly and completely for. At least a decade, more like two, almost a decade and a half, you know? And so you're just physically exhausted and he's asking you to do this every day.
And for my, in my mind, I was like, I have to do this every day for forever. I'm gonna die. I can't, I can't do this. Do you know what I mean?
Misty Smith: Mm-hmm.
Tamara K. Anderson: [00:13:00] So. Um, over the next year, the next days and weeks and months, it's, it was just doing the daily things. It was saying my prayers and reading my scriptures and going to church, even when church was horrendously hard.
Mm-hmm. Especially with, uh, four little kids under the age of seven, and one of them, only one of them could communicate with me verbally. It was, it was hard and it was difficult and I just. Sometimes you just kind of do what you know, just because you don't know what else to do. And so we just continued on and continued on and um, I remember one day finally, I think it was a year or two later, I remember I was sitting in my garden.
And I was kind of over just, it was a peaceful moment and I didn't get very many peaceful moments, and I just remember [00:14:00] thinking, oh my gosh, I feel peace. I feel okay. I'm not in that chronic, oh my gosh, this is gonna be awful for the rest of my life. I felt peace and it was like almost a shock to me. Like, wait, what is this?
Do you know what I mean? And I remember, um. At that time, I, I had a, a verse of scripture that just, I think I'd read it recently, and it, it just, it resonated with me. And it's in Mosiah chapter 24, verse 14. And this is the people of Alma who have just come into bondage. You remember they escaped from wicked King Noah?
They, they built their little happy place there, and then the Lamanites found them and they were brought into bondage. And I'm sure they too, were pleading for miracles. Right. And this is interesting. He said this to them. He said, lift up. Well starting in verse 13, "lift up [00:15:00] your heads and be of good comfort for I know of the covenant, which he have made unto me.
And I'll covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage. And I will also ease the burdens, which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot fill them upon your backs, even while you were in bondage. And this will I do that you may stand as a witness for me hereafter and that you may know of a surety, that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions."
Yeah, and I love this first, and it spoke to me because the burden that I had been carrying for so long, I realized that in those days and weeks and months and years that followed. That the miracle I needed all along was the miracle of learning, that I could lean on God and he could strengthen me and empower me to bear the burden so that they didn't [00:16:00] feel so heavy.
But just like anything new that is thrust upon us, it feels so daunting when it first lands on your shoulders. You're like, I can't do this. It's too hard, it's too heavy. I can't even take a step. But the good news is because of Jesus, we don't have to do it alone. He truly does ease our burdens. And, and then the, the half, the, the back half of that verse is this, you'll do this.
I will do that. You may stand as witnesses for me hereafter that you may know of, a surety. That was the most important miracle I could have received. At that moment in my life, because it was gonna be hard, I needed to know that no matter how hard or how heavy, or how difficult the problem was in front of me, that I could walk it with God, that he would stand by [00:17:00] me and bear me up and help make me stronger.
To bear those burdens with ease. Right? And that is what that moment of peace taught me is. I'm there. I feel peace. Is the burden gone? No. Mm-hmm. Do I feel peace? And can I bear it now? Yes. I can bear it with him.
Misty Smith: I love that. Recently I had, , an experience not at all like yours. I, I can't even imagine, but it was a fog lifting.
From, from me, and I don't even know how long I was living this fog. So when you describe, um, feeling peace, all of a sudden it's almost like you realize I didn't realize how much stress and unhappiness and just fog , I don't know how else to describe it. It's just fog. And I remember when it lifted for me and I felt peace and my husband and my family had been noticing that I was just.
Just so much [00:18:00] happier and, and I was able to just testify of God's goodness and his grace and the learning. And I, I don't even know again, how long I have been going through that for years. And, um, and learning that and learning that there's always another end, I think gives people like hope. And I think also God is a God of hope and, and he's able to provide us with.
Just hang on, just hang on a little longer. And that's exactly what your story sounds like. It's just enduring until that moment where that fog or that peace all of a sudden comes and you find that happy place. So I, I just love that. Thank you.
Tamara K. Anderson: Absolutely. I was thinking, um, I'd share another thing since I, you guys talk about angels and miracles.
And so I felt that I should share one more story. Is that okay?
Haley Freeman: Love it. Please do. Yes,
Misty Smith: [00:19:00] love it. You're just, you just have the spiritual intelligence about you and I'm loving it.
Tamara K. Anderson: Oh, well good. So I want to fast forward about, um, six or seven years from that point of peace. We were living in Texas at the time, and Nathan was probably about 10 or 11.
Still not sleeping very well through the night. And we were trying to train him to stay in his room until his clock said six, because often he would wake, it would take him forever to fall asleep, and then he would wake up at like two in the morning and just be awake and mad or wanted to get out and play.
And I'm just like, oh my gosh, I didn't get enough sleep. I know you didn't get enough sleep. And so he was just grumpy and tired and all that stuff. And so. On days like that, my husband and I would sometimes trade places like, okay, I need to get a few more hours of sleep. I'll take the first shift. You take the second shift, and generally he was okay.
He fought us at [00:20:00] first, but he was okay. , we stuffed a pillow and a blanket under his bed so that when. We were up super early in the morning, we could pull that blanket out and just lay beside him on the, we'd lay on the floor. He would lay in his bed and just keep prompting. Nope, you gotta wait till six, you know, sorry.
And, um. But one night he woke up and it was early. It was one or two in the morning and he was crying. Unconsolably like usually he was okay, but , this particular night it was really, really bad and. So, you know, we tried several things. I was like, maybe he's in pain. We give him Tylenol. Didn't help. Uh, maybe he's hungry.
Give him a snack. Didn't help. Uh, just crying and crying and crying. Unconsolably. I finally went down and I got my husband. I said, please just give him a blessing. And he came up and [00:21:00] gave him a blessing and he took a shift. And I went and laid down because after, after hearing crying for so long, it grates on your nerves.
And of course we were, yes, it does. Exhausted on top of it, you know, and, and, um, he, my husband took his shift. He came back down. He had to get ready for work soon, and so he was gonna catch like one more hour of sleep. And so, you know, there we are on that last watch of the night. I, I'm picturing the story of Jesus and his disciples and you know, them being in that last watch of the night and waiting for Jesus to come and, and sometimes.
The miracles we're looking for come in that last moment when you are literally at your breaking point. Mm-hmm. And um, I remember going back in and by now it's like five 30 in the morning and we had prayed so much and I remember just saying, heavenly father, I don't even know [00:22:00] what to pray for anymore.
We have tried everything. Everything we can think of, and nothing has helped. Nothing
and the thought came, pray for angels
and, and so I remember just. Starting to pray. Pray for every grandparent on both sides of the family. Please come be with us. Be with me and strengthen me in this. Be with my Nathan and comfort him because I can't there. I don't know what's wrong,
and a peace descended on that room.
And his crying lessened and he calmed down,
and I'm so thankful
for that night because it taught me such an important lesson. It taught me that I can pray for angels [00:23:00] to come and be with me and be with him. Was it a hard lesson to learn? Absolutely. It was probably one of the worst and hardest nights I've ever had with our sweet Nathan, but the lesson I learned in that fourth watch of the night was invaluable to me, and I learned the power of inviting angels to come and be with my son.
To be with and strengthen me, and that's a lesson that I've applied again and again and again throughout our life. Tacking on. Just a few weeks ago, we, um, my kids are now all adults and, uh, my daughter was getting released from her mission, and so we went to the stake center and Nathan was not happy about that because we were disrupting his routine.
And so we show up. At the stake center and he is yelling at the top of his lungs. Go home. All done, [00:24:00] you know, stake president comes out, grabs our sweet daughter, takes her in to talk to her before you know, he brings all of us in to release her and Nathan is in the foyer in front of our stake president.
Office yelling at the top of his lungs, not happy to be there. We're like, come on Nathan, you have your iPad right here. You're happy, you're good. And I'm looking at my husband going, oh crap. Or is one of us gonna have the car and miss like her getting released? You know? You know, all these scenarios are playing through my head.
This is just a day in the life of Tamara and Justin Anderson, you know? And, um. And so the thought popped into my head, you need to pray. And so I did. And I prayed and I prayed, and this, this lesson has come into play many, many times. Heavenly Father, Nathan's upset again. We've told them what's going on tonight.
We've told them that this is gonna be a different evening, but we need help. Will you [00:25:00] please send angels to be with us, to be with and comfort him? And to be with us in this special time when, when our daughter's getting released and we want to be there with her and not be stressed out when we're trying to enjoy that moment.
Right? And within one or two minutes of that sweet prayer, he calmed down.
Haley Freeman: Wow,
Tamara K. Anderson: calm down. It was, it was a miracle. And we went into our stake president's office. He called us in like one or two minutes after that and we, we sat around and had the most beautiful, sweet moment. And I remember looking over at Nathan at one point and just, it was like this sweet assurance of the spirit that the angels that were there with us were also enjoying this sweet moment.
With our sweet, our daughter as she was finishing her mission, and I just thought, you know [00:26:00] what a blessing it is to know that we're not alone. That God can help us and our teenagers and anybody else who is struggling to feel peace, but we have to invite them and that's one of the things that I think I've learned also over the years is God is a God of agency.
He values that so, so much, and so he's not going to force anything on us, and so we need to ask for it. You know, we need to learn to ask for the right things and sometimes we don't know what it is like. Like me, when I was young, God, I don't know what else to pray for. I prayed for everything I can think of and listening and figuring out what key thing am I missing.
That will make a difference in my life because it has, it has time and time and time again. So I'm thankful for angels. They've helped me get through so many hard things, not only with [00:27:00] my, my sons on the spectrum, but um, just in the battles that we face. On a daily basis with the adversary, because we live in the last days, it is a battle to keep him at bay and to move forward with faith.
He doesn't want a shining light. He doesn't want Haley to start her this podcast. You know what I mean?
Misty Smith: Yeah.
Tamara K. Anderson: It's a constant, constant battle. And so how neat it is to know that we're not battling this alone, that we can call on those angels. Sometimes they're ministering angels and they're there to bring peace and comfort.
And sometimes we need angels to battle with us against the adversary and help cast him out and remove him from our lives and heal us. Um, bring us that hope and that peace. And the good news is, is. That whatever type of angels we need, God can send. You know, we just need to learn to ask for it. For me, I've had to learn to ask for technology angels as I've tried to navigate the backends of setting up different websites
I [00:28:00] was not technology savvy at all, so I had to pray for technology angels, and sometimes at the end of a day I'm like, oh my gosh, I did that well, the help of my angels, because I didn't do that on my own, 'cause I couldn't figure it out on my own.
Misty Smith: Yes.
Oh my gosh.
Tamara K. Anderson: They're there. Right.
Haley Freeman: It's really interesting how you said specific angels like technology angels or angels of this and that, because when I was, um, I was just newly married and I was so, so sick.
And my husband had just his new job. He was working at nights. I was home alone in our little new apartment, and I was very, very sick. I was getting really, really high fevers and I was to the point where I'm like, I probably need to go to an emergency room. Like I am very like very, very sick but I was alone and I didn't know what to do and I was just laying on the couch and I was just praying and praying like, help me.
I [00:29:00] don't know what to do. I'm just extremely sick and so much pain and my fever was just getting higher and higher, and all of a sudden I felt the presence of a doctor angel. Mm-hmm. Like very specific. I knew it was a man. I knew he was a doctor, and I he started. Telling me instructions. Like he started telling me ways to breathe, to calm, like my body down, my lower, my breathing down.
He started telling me all these instructions and I'm sure he was doing something on his part. And it got me, like my fever went down a little bit. I was able to get through the night, I was able to be okay. And that was the first time in my life here I was. I was, I was 21, 22, and this is the first time in my life I ever had the concept of specific angels coming for specific reasons. I didn't even fathom that concept because , the veil had been really thin for me since I had my near death experience. But all [00:30:00] those, experiences that I had up to that point were just specifically with my sister who had died and my grandma who had died.
So I think that was the first time I had actually had an encounter with someone who wasn't them. But I knew it was this man, it was a doctor. And he got me through that night and now it's lining up more and more I'm hearing of these, you know, specific angels coming for these specific tasks and it's just fascinating.
Misty Smith: Yeah. I love that.
That's awesome, Haley . Yeah. Um, Tamara, with all this discussion about prayer and everything, angels and healing, and you're a mother, amazing mother that raised and kept alive your children through all this, uh, do you have any tips and advice for our listeners on the things that you have gone through that you could probably help some of our listeners that are going through similar things?
Tamara K. Anderson: Oh. Oh my goodness. That's a heavy task to ask about. But, but I think, um,
I [00:31:00] think some of the lessons that I've learned, um, are, are some of those things that I've shared with you today and that just the idea that wherever you are, if you're struggling. That you can ask for God to be with you. You can ask for angels to be with you, to empower you, to strengthen you, to get through whatever it is.
And he sends them, he tells us in the scriptures, ask and you shall receive. And I know as I've sent kids off on missions and different things, you know, you're sending them off and trusting them to God, like, oh boy, you know, and now I've got a couple of kids that are married , and so. You reach a point where they're not, they're not in your home as much anymore, and they're off in their own lives and, and you're trusting them more and more to God.
They were really gods to begin with, you know? Mm-hmm. Um, and so it is, it is learning to [00:32:00] let go and let God take care of them, praying for them even from far away. Um. Praying for those miracles for those kids. They're struggling and you can't be there with them. But trusting. It's that same true faith, right?
That that I had to learn that lesson long ago. Trusting that God has got them on that journey, whether they're faithful and active in the church, or maybe they're a prodigal at this moment, that God sees them wherever they are on their journey and he loves them. And that there is a way, there is a way for them to get where they need to go and he will be with them and be patient with them on that journey.
Just like he's been with me and been patient with me on my journey. Even when I was really mad at him at first, like the kids were diagnosed, I was mad. I did not life, dear Lord, my fist to heaven, but he's. [00:33:00] So patient with us, and, and I'm just thankful for that. So keep, I guess my thoughts are keep that line of communication open, um, with heaven because as long as you keep that line open, miracles will come whether they're the miracles you pray for or the miracles that you need.
Haley Freeman: Hmm.
Misty Smith: Love that. Thank you.
Haley Freeman: Do you have any tips or advice for people with special needs, kids or parents?
Tamara K. Anderson: Ooh. Um,
we have had some of the most hard experiences with our children with special needs and some of the most tender experience. With our kids with special needs. And, um, I think some of the hardest things at first, especially as the diagnosis hit, I mean, you have all these dreams and expectations of [00:34:00] what you think their life will be when you have any kid, right?
And you imagine that they're going to, you know, go on a mission and get married in the temple and they're going to do this and do that and do that, and. When you have a child with special needs, all of a sudden you don't know what that future looks like. And that's that, that, that, that break of expectations of what you anticipate, it's gonna look like changes.
And that's, that's hard. That's a bitter pill to swallow.
Haley Freeman: You almost have to grieve what you thought the future was gonna be, right? Yes,
Tamara K. Anderson: yes, you definitely do. And you know what? That's okay. Yeah. It's okay if you're there. But I think one of the things that both getting older and hopefully a little bit wiser has taught me with these kids is that some of these sweet spirits that come to earth are celestial already, you know?
Absolutely. And [00:35:00] um. Like President Nelson has taught us, sometimes we need to think celestial as far as what our dreams and aspirations for our children are as well. We can't get caught up in maybe worldly expectations or even expectations within our church. You know that God has a plan and a mission for each child.
I remember. Attending a, um, a mission call opening for one of our good friends, their son, and he was Nathan's age. And we went to that homecoming and it was a little bit, I was having kind of a moment of comparison.
Misty Smith: All of us do,
Tamara K. Anderson: watching other kids do things that my son was not doing, you know? Mm-hmm. And, um, I was just having a moment where I'm like.
He's not gonna serve a mission, you know, [00:36:00] and the spirit whispered that day. Nathan has his own mission. It's normal for him. You know, you can't sit and compare him to everybody else. And I think that's the same for all of our kids. All of our kids have a unique mission. It may not look like everybody else's.
And you know what? That's okay, right? Um, God knows them. He's going to, um, bring the right circumstances and little miracles into their lives at the right time. But what a blessing it is to know that, you don't have to compare that each child is on their own journey and just trust, trust God that he'll get you through and he'll get them through.
Um. On whatever that path looks like. So
Haley Freeman: beautiful. Thank you. Do you have any final takeaways that for our listeners, that you want them to get one final message that you wanna [00:37:00] take everything you've experienced?
Tamara K. Anderson: Goodness gracious.
Write down your spiritual impressions and thoughts. Hmm.
Haley Freeman: Um,
Tamara K. Anderson: write down your little miracles. we had some miracles happen just in the last few days and, and, uh, and I took this morning, I had some quiet time this morning and I think I journaled about six pages, um, of little miracles that have happened.
Um, and I think it's important that we write them down because we're showing God that, hey. I saw your hand and it may have been something big, it may have been something little, but I think the more we look for these miracles, we look for the hand of God in our lives, the more we will see it. And it's important for us to record it because we don't know.
Maybe someday in the future we'll look back and flip through a journal. Or maybe someday our grandkids [00:38:00] will look back and flip through Grandma's journal and go, oh my gosh, listen to this sweet little story, you know, of, of a miracle that she had. And so I think it's important we write them down. And if you're not big on writing.
How great it is that we have phones that we can even just dictate into, right? Today I had the sweetest experience and just record on your phone or something like that. And share those when you feel prompted to share them, because it helps build faith in others.
Haley Freeman: So important.
Misty Smith: Mm-hmm. Thank you.
With all this, thank you so much for giving us, so much discussion. I think on prayer, especially leaving an open communication and your wisdom, I felt the spirit really strongly. Um, I feel like this is going to resonate with a lot of our mothers who are struggling and our fathers because it sounds like you and your husband, wow, you guys are teammates
that are gonna do [00:39:00] incredible things in eternity. So thank you so much. we have your contact info. You have, Facebook, Instagram, is that correct? Mm-hmm. Yeah, you
Tamara K. Anderson: can find me. Yeah, you can find me on, um, Instagram at Tamara k Anderson. Uh, SON People always wonder and Tamara is spelled MARA and I also have a website, tamarakanderson.com.
That's where my, my podcast stories of Hope and hard Time is housed. And a couple of the books that I've written, um, I have a book that talks about a little bit of, I've shared a little bits and pieces of it with you today. It's a book called Normal for Me. And, um, it, it tells that journey from grief to peace after, uh, my two sons were diagnosed on the autism spectrum and just kind of some of my experiences in there.
And now we've also started a wonderful women's group called Women Warrior of Light. And so you can also find that on social media, [00:40:00] Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, so yeah, it's great.
Misty Smith: Thank you so much.
Haley Freeman: So where, where's the best place for people to get your book? Normal for me.
Tamara K. Anderson: You know, you can get it signed on my website, tamarakanderson.com or you can order it on Amazon.
Haley Freeman: Yeah. And everyone needs to check out the Women Warriors for Light you guys are doing amazing things. I've been honored to be on a few of your episodes. You were doing amazing things, different workshops so many awesome lessons of the, um, scripture studies. So everyone needs to check that out.
I can't recommend it more.
Tamara K. Anderson: Thank you. Thank you. We are so excited to be helping, uh, women step into their divine mission and purpose and, and shine their light with the world. So we have, we gotta do it. You know, it's, we're, it's all hands on deck before the second coming. And he needs our help. He expects us to stand up and do scary things like start podcasts like Haley and Misty here. Scary things that kind of push us [00:41:00] outta our comfort zone. But you know, so its good.
Haley Freeman: Well, thank you. We really appreciate you taking the time to be with us today. And. We just really appreciate you for sharing your stories, I know that they're gonna help so many people.
Tamara K. Anderson: Thank you.
Misty Smith: Thank you, Tamara.
Tamara K. Anderson: Been an honor to be with you guys today.
Outro: Thank you for joining us on Latter-day Miracles. If you have a miracle story that you feel inspired to share, we'd love to hear from you. Contact us on our website at latterdaymiracles.net or message us on social media. Until next time, keep your heart open to the miraculous and may you feel the presence of angels in your everyday life.
00:00 Welcome to Latter-day Miracles
00:28 Introducing Tamara K Anderson
01:59 Tamara's Miracle Journey Begins
04:16 The Struggle with Faith and Acceptance
13:34 Finding Peace and Understanding
18:46 Another Miracle Story
20:52 A Night of Desperation and Divine Intervention
22:13 The Power of Praying for Angels
23:36 A Day in the Life: Handling Unexpected Challenges
27:52 The Role of Specific Angels in Our Lives
30:27 Advice for Parents of Special Needs Children
36:53 Final Takeaways and Encouragement
