I have been married to my incredibly beautiful, loving, and spiritually guided wife for nearly seven years. We have been given four beautiful and precious children, whom I love with all my soul. We have endured seven years of school, three of which were spent 900 miles away from our family and friends. We have suffered through six moves. We have been members of seven different wards and have accepted various callings. We have born the weight of insurmountable student loans. We have dealt with poverty and the embarrassment of collecting public assistance. We have had several different jobs, some that paid well and others not so much. We have even considered selling our bodies for money (the plasma only of course). We have learned to applaud the successes of others and have overcome setbacks and disappointments. We have been shown our weaknesses and follies. We have met a whole host of new and interesting people and have made dear friends and unfortunately, some enemies. We have laughed, loved, cried, and learned. But we have never doubted God's love. We have always known that our Father in Heaven would not have sent His only son to Earth to suffer incomprehensible pain if He did not love us. We have always known that everything was experienced for a reason. However, we found ourselves regularly, like Tevye, questioning God's omniscience. We wondered regularly whether He really knew what was best for us. I was in this state-of-mind when I wrote my post about frustration.
When I graduated from law school we decided it was time to move closer to our family. We settled on Western Colorado. We were convinced we would find a nice District Attorney position there, that we would buy a house, and finally, after six long years, be able to start our home. However, eight months later we found ourselves in Lexington, Nebraska, still some 700 miles from our family, struggling to barely survive financially. We were lonely, frustrated, and poor. We knew that our Heavenly Father brought us to Lexington, but we could not figure out why he would do such a thing. We once again found ourselves like teenagers questioning whether God really knew what was best for us.
After ten months of living in Lexington, we finally decided it was enough. We told our Heavenly Father and the County Attorney that if we did not get a raise by August we would be moving our family to Colorado. We knew that if He wanted us to stay in Lexington, He would soften hearts and provide a way. However, we also knew the County was in a budget crisis and the raise we were asking for had not been granted by the Board of Commissioners in several years. Considering my paycheck is funded by County taxes, we were convinced we would be moving to Colorado very shortly. Last week we were given a raise higher than what we had requested.
We still struggle living in Lexington. Having grown up in towns like Layton and Puebla, we get bored frequently. And we still regularly wish we lived in a bigger city. And we still miss our family and friends dearly. And we are still only making two-thirds of what most of my fellow law school graduates earn. Nonetheless, we know that Heavenly Father wants us in Lexington. This small piece of knowledge brings a peace and happiness to our lives that no amount of money, friends, family or entertainment could bring. We still find ourselves wondering why God chose Lexington, Nebraska, but at least now we know this is where He wants us to be.
When I graduated from law school we decided it was time to move closer to our family. We settled on Western Colorado. We were convinced we would find a nice District Attorney position there, that we would buy a house, and finally, after six long years, be able to start our home. However, eight months later we found ourselves in Lexington, Nebraska, still some 700 miles from our family, struggling to barely survive financially. We were lonely, frustrated, and poor. We knew that our Heavenly Father brought us to Lexington, but we could not figure out why he would do such a thing. We once again found ourselves like teenagers questioning whether God really knew what was best for us.
After ten months of living in Lexington, we finally decided it was enough. We told our Heavenly Father and the County Attorney that if we did not get a raise by August we would be moving our family to Colorado. We knew that if He wanted us to stay in Lexington, He would soften hearts and provide a way. However, we also knew the County was in a budget crisis and the raise we were asking for had not been granted by the Board of Commissioners in several years. Considering my paycheck is funded by County taxes, we were convinced we would be moving to Colorado very shortly. Last week we were given a raise higher than what we had requested.
We still struggle living in Lexington. Having grown up in towns like Layton and Puebla, we get bored frequently. And we still regularly wish we lived in a bigger city. And we still miss our family and friends dearly. And we are still only making two-thirds of what most of my fellow law school graduates earn. Nonetheless, we know that Heavenly Father wants us in Lexington. This small piece of knowledge brings a peace and happiness to our lives that no amount of money, friends, family or entertainment could bring. We still find ourselves wondering why God chose Lexington, Nebraska, but at least now we know this is where He wants us to be.
2 comments:
I am a very lucky girl to have Carl as my husband!! Thanks Penny and Norm!!
I am glad that you have such a close relationship with your Heavenly Father. But it still doesn't help one lonely grandma, trying to have a relationship with her grandkids over the phone. Its just not right!!!
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