Do you remember how our family’s August was a bit crazy last year? You don’t? Well, here’s a quick, bullet-pointed recap.
- In May 2017, I had started working full time and it was difficult for my kids.
- I prayed about what to do and got the answer to put in my notice at work (even though my husband had not taken his board exams yet and didn’t have a job lined up). I thought, “Umm…did you miss the when Doug finds a job part of that question?” A simple answer – “Have faith.”
- Months later, at the beginning of August, Doug still hadn’t found a job and I had my last day of work. I hadn’t filled out anything on our family calendar for August because I was just waiting to see how everything worked out.
- We had the goal to move, (which seems ludicrous considering our employment situation), but I figured that “faith without works is dead” and I started packing.
- While packing, I came across my very first Book of Mormon that was given to me by the missionaries. Carefully tucked within its pages were a note from one of the Elders as well as my ticket to General Conference, which I attended the day after my baptism.
- The tender mercy of finding that little package reminded me of the many times during my conversion that I needed to have faith and then leap.
Then we began to wait. Doug found a job by the end of August but it wasn’t guaranteed hours so things were still a bit unsteady. By the end of the year, we learned a full-time position would open within a few months. Optimistic, we started to explore the idea of moving closer to work and school. Throughout the process, there have been some changes in what we want and where we want to be but we have felt directed to a specific location and a specific house and we know it is part of the plan. So, guess what’s happening this August? Yep, we’re moving into this house. And it will decrease our commute time to school and work by over 3 hours per day! Wow…I’d never done that math before. Right now, my husband leaves for work around 7:45. He doesn’t work until 10 but drops the kids on his way since the school is so far from home and closer to work. When we move, school is about 10-15 minutes away (as opposed to 30-45) so it is easy to run the kids to school and then come home.
On the other front, last summer, I had still been doing some writing for LDS Living and started this blog. I was trying to figure out what to do next. I had consulted with my former mission president. It turns out he is good friends with John Bytheway. Brother Bytheway and I talked and he planted the notion of applying to teach at Education Week. The idea hadn’t even been on my radar. (I figured you need a Ph.D. in Ancient Scripture to teach at Education Week.) With a somewhat terrified (and slim) hope, I applied. In November, it dawned on me that I should also apply to the BYU-Idaho Education Week. I contacted the coordinator and she stated that the deadline had been October 1st but since the committee had yet to meet, I could still apply if I did so quickly. Thankfully, I only needed to make a few changes from my other application so I submitted my material less than an hour and a half later. (That may not have been as quick as she was expecting but I felt the need to just finish it as another leap.) I didn’t get my hopes up but felt that I had done my best to follow-through on the prompting to apply. In January, I learned that I hadn’t been accepted to teach in Provo. As any non-acceptance goes, it stung a little but I was grateful to have had the chance to put together the material to apply. I learned a lot about myself and built my testimony on several topics while researching talks and putting together my outlines.
Then, I was at work one morning and got an email from BYU-Idaho informing me that I had been invited to teach at their event in August. So, in addition to moving, I’ll also be teaching at Education Week. (Hopefully not the same week!)
In his book, “When Heaven Feels Distant,” Tyler Griffin states “We also experience situations involving delays and seeming impossibilities. At times like these, we strain to hear with spiritual ears the Savior’s reassuring words, ‘Be not afraid, only believe.’” This past year has been filled with delays and unexpected changes. But, we did our best to have faith and believe when we leaped last summer. During our wait before the landing, we felt supported and, so far, the landing has been gentle. (I may change the answer when we get more serious about packing.) As we have waited and relied upon the Lord, we have drawn closer to Him and closer as a family. I know that this was our specific path with the questions and answers designed just for us. I know that for me and for you, the Lord has plotted a specific course to help each of us, one by one, become the people that He knows we are able to become.
