So...it's been another month. It feels like it's been a year, or a lifetime...I can't believe it's just been one month since I last posted! What a roller coaster ride these last 4 months have been! We have experienced more trials/difficulties/challenges than I ever thought we would when we started out on this journey. But we also have experienced more blessings/miracles/tender mercies/joy than we ever thought we would also. What an awesome ride! For all the learning I've done, I wouldn't trade it for anything. I guess I should fill you all in on the recent "goings on" of this whole process...spoiler alert!...Heavenly Father has sent us some BIG changes of plans :)
So this last month has been spent trying to transition our family to Texas. Derick has been continuing to job hunt for a good job(i.e.=any job) that would get us to Texas. No jobs came. None. Crazy, huh?! But we kept pushing forward, trusting that the Lord would work it out and provide for us. So after a lot of fasting and prayer we decided that we would send Derick to Texas without the rest of us to find a job to start working and saving so that we could join him as soon as possible. We dreaded the thought of living apart for awhile, but felt like it was necessary and what Heavenly Father was asking of us. So we pushed forward. We got Derick's departure date set. We packed him up and put all of his stuff in his car. He said his goodbyes to family and friends. I shed some tears, and we both prepared to take another huge leap of faith. And then we got a phone call...a very awesome phone call! A company based in Dallas TX called, and were very interested in Derick. They were impressed with the resume he had sent them, and wanted to interview him. I thought, this is it!! A job...a great job!...that will finally get us to Texas! Here's the fun, awesome twist :) This company just opened a new center in Lehi, UT in the last 6 months. So he went in for his interview, they loved him, and they want him to stay in Lehi to help with all of the growth they will be experiencing in this next year. Although this was a HUGE blessing, we wrestled with the decision. We have been doing everything in our power to get to TX because we were certain it was the path the Lord wanted us to take. Was this job a huge answer to prayer, or one last test to see if we would be willing to pass it up to get to Texas? We stayed up all night talking over options. We prayed, buried ourselves in scriptures/conference talks/ wise counsel from family/friends. And then...the most critical part of this whole process, and what, I think, Heavenly Father has been trying to teach me through all of this...and maybe what this journey for me has been about from the very beginning...I let go. I turned it all over to my Savior. I prayed to let go of my will, my ideas, my anything...I let it all go.
So we took the job :) We feel such peace. We are 100% certain that that is where Heavenly Father wants our family right now. We know we would've gone to Texas if that is what Heavenly Father wanted. We don't question at all the revelation we have received through this whole process. I don't even ask why the path was the way it was. I trust that Heavenly Father has a reason behind everything He tells me to do, and I know that huge blessings come when I am obedient. I have learned a lot about letting go. This process has been so freeing in so many ways. In preparation for this move I had to be willing to let go of anything I had any sort of attachment to...family, friends, living in a place I absolutely loved...I even sold anything I could, which included pretty much all of my furniture. I learned how to let it all go (a lot of times kicking and screaming about it :) ), but I did it. ( Side note...I know a family that is looking for some cheap furniture... :)) I still have a long ways to go, and a lot to learn about letting go...like trying to ignore the small part of me that worries about what other people will think when they find out we actually aren't going to Texas, etc...but I will keep learning how to let that stuff go. One step at a time.
I will now skip to the fun part :) This week we have spent hunting for where Heavenly Father wants our little family, and we have been led to an awesome house in Eagle Mountain! We are super-excited! We move in this weekend! We feel so overwhelmingly blessed. We feel like it is such a tender mercy that we get to have a great job, a great home, a fresh start in so many ways, but we get to do it all in Utah close to family and friends. We are only an hour from the countless people we grew to love in Morgan. We are within an hour from all of our family here in Utah. And we are super close now to some old friends who we love who are in the "southern end of the valley"... (shout out to Lindsey, Brooke, and Kim) :)
To sum it all up. We are so excited to begin this new phase of life, and this new journey. We have been surrounded by people who love us, support us, and pray for us, and we know that that will continue. I know now more certainly than I ever have that I can do hard things. My Savior doesn't just make a difference in my life...He IS the difference. I will continue to learn how to keep letting go daily in my life, and I know that if I can do that then I will keep growing how my Heavenly Father needs me to grow. Thank you to everybody that has sent prayers on my family's behalf. We have needed them and felt them. Love you all!!
