Tender Mercy

As I mentioned in a previous post, my phone died.  I woke up one morning and it had passed away during the night. It just wouldn't turn on at all.  The date was December 11th- an extremely busy day.  Our Keynote group was performing for a Christmas party in the morning, we were going to have our Keynote Christmas luncheon that day, plus mutual, etc.  And now my phone was dead!  Ahhhh!!   So I left early for our morning performance and went to the phone store only to discover that my phone was dead- really dead (I had hoped they could fix it), and I had to buy a new one.  So I quickly chose a new iPhone xr. then came back to the store after the performance to get it all set up.  It was while the clerk was helping me set up the new phone that I realized how I had been blessed with a tender mercy.  For literally months- since June- I had been planning to purchase more space on the icloud.  My devices kept reminding me that I was out of space and that for 99 cents a month, I could get the space I needed so that my phone and other devices could be backed up.  My phone hadn't been backed up for months.  My sister, Joan came to visit in June and suggested I purchase more space.  I had actually tried a few times, but it always asked for my password and I couldn't remember it, so I didn't do it.  Then, just two days before my phone died, I got a prompt again, reminding me I needed to purchase more space.  It just so happened that I had my book with me at the time that had my password, so I did it.
When the technician looked, it showed my phone had backed up a few hours after I purchased more space, just the day before the phone died.  I really feel that it was a tender mercy from God that I actually followed through and purchased the iCloud space, saving me untold heartache, losing pictures, contacts, and important information.
Though I feel like the term "tender mercy" is a bit overused, in this case, there simply isn't a better description for what it was.  Though frustrating to have to buy a new phone, I am grateful I could see this tender mercy from God.