To
give you a little insight into our world, Ryan has been searching for a new job
opportunity since we were married in 2009.
It has been a somewhat difficult time in that regard. With a lot of fasting, prayers and a lot of
patience, we worked hard and waited. I
will be really honest when I say that I had a hard time with it than I probably
should have. I would look around and see
how blessed others we knew were with their new jobs and better pay. I questioned God a lot in this regard. I am sure that Heavenly Father had to
exercise quite a lot of patience towards me.
Ryan was always so good and so patient through it all, always confident
in the Lords timing etc. I am grateful
for him and his wisdom through our marriage thus far. So, this year, I set out to be more patient,
and God helped me to see that it would all work out and that He had it all in
His hands, to which I felt great peace and comfort.
Looking
back on the struggles we went through in regards to jobs, money and budgets etc.,
I can see the great lessons and learning that we have both gained, as well as
how we have come much closer to our Heavenly Father and Savior. Growth in a lot of ways is awful! But how grateful I am for it! Elder Christofferson told a story in one of
his talks at General Conference about a man who had bought a farm and was
cleaning up the place. One day he came
to a current bush that was the size of a tree and bearing no fruit. The man cut down the bush to mere stubs, and
on each branch he had cut, there appeared drop of moisture that looked like a tear.
It was almost as if the bush were crying.
The man could almost hear the bush cry out to him and ask him, ”how
could you do this!? You are supposed to be the gardener!” To which the man replied, “I am the gardener
here. I know what you are and I know
what I want you to become. And in years
to come when you start to bear fruit, you will thank me someday.”
When we are in the thick of things, it is often too hard for us to see what great blessings will come to us from our hardships and trials. I know that God has watched over us. He is ever pruning us and molding us to become what He has intended for us to be.
So, after years of waiting and growing, Ryan received an email. An email you say? Yes! You see, a couple of years prior to this, Ryan had filled out an application with a company out in Chicago for a manager position. The employers really liked him, but for some reason the timing was wrong and the job didn’t work out. We forgot about it and moved on. These same people that he had talked to before, years later, contacted him in an email and asked if he would be interested in a manager position that had just opened up. What?! Say that again! We were so excited, to put it lightly. Ryan talked for a few weeks with them, and then it was all set up. We would be moving to Chicago Illinois and Ryan would be starting a new job. (Insert angelic praises and hallelujahs in the background.) What a blessing!
We then decided that we needed to put the house on the market. We hired Ryan’s Brother Tim, and within a week were under contract to sell the house. Wow! That didn’t take long. Gosh, it was almost as if God were telling us that we were making the right choices in taking this new position and moving. We couldn’t believe how blessed we were. And as if those blessings (or shall we call them miracles?) weren’t enough, Ryan’s new employers wanted to pay for us to move, including a semi, movers to pack us and move us, the transportation of our vehicles, airplanes tickets, a hotel for 2 weeks with food and gas paid for. Dang! I could hardly believe what was happening to us. And it was all happening in the matter of less than a month. I guess you could say that the popular saying “when it rains it pours”, doesn’t just apply to trials, but also to blessings.
Life became a whirlwind as we prepared, planned and organized. We said our good byes to those we could, packed up our lives, and headed east to new opportunities, new friendships, and to a new beginning.
Here’s to a New Beginning
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