It has come to my attention lately how
sneakily God has been influencing the seemingly insignificant details of my
life in the last year. Almost one year ago, my life changed suddenly and dramatically
and I was completely derailed from the path that I was on. At the time it was
devastating. I asked my good friend, D for a priesthood blessing. I distinctly
remember this blessing, because he said two things that I will never forget. 1)
That Heavenly Father wanted me to pray more, and 2) that although it didn't
seem like it, I was on the right path, I wasn't as lost as I thought I was, and
God had a plan for me. I spent the next nine months wondering what that meant,
because I didn't feel like my life was on any path at all, nonetheless the
right one. But now, 11 months after that blessing, I know that I am where God
wanted me to end up, and I can see the little things that led to me getting
here. I want to walk through some of those things with you. I will bold the parts that I feel involved the most divine intervention.
Shortly after that first life changing
event happened, I changed all of my plans and knew that when school ended in
3-4 weeks I would be homeless, jobless, and friendless. I cannot tell you how
discouraging this was. At that point, an old acquaintance, T invited me to go
for a motorcycle ride. He had no idea how badly I needed companionship right
then, but he was able to provide it and we had a nice time. Shortly after that,
things fell into place, and due to some revelation by my mom, I got an
internship in Salt Lake City. While there, I planned to take a road trip to my
mission with some of my mission friends. But about three weeks before that
happened, the transmission went out on my car, canceling the trip. I decided
not to let that bring me down, and instead planned a week-long vacation in SLC.
I sent a message out on facebook inviting anyone who wanted, to join me in this
adventure. The same guy that had taken me for a motorcycle ride earlier, T,
came down and spent a day with me at Thanksgiving Point. Throughout that day,
we got to be good friends which led to us spending the Fourth of July together
as well. At the time I didn’t think anything of it because I was a lost little
puppy who was dating lots of different guys just for the sake of company.
When I moved back to Logan, T. invited me
to his house for his going away party because he had graduated and was moving
home until he found a job. He was too busy to talk to me at the party, but he
called me afterword to apologize and ask if he could take me on a date the next
time he came to town. I agreed and a few weeks later we went on a date and had
a nice time together. Again I didn’t think too much of it, but because I was
starting to enjoy his company I called him up when I went his way for a mission
reunion. Although my intentions at that point were to just spend a couple of
hours together in the morning, we ended up spending about 13 hours together and
had a great time doing it.
After that, we started seeing each other
on a regular basis even though we were living a good two hours away from each
other. After a couple months of dating I invited him to come home with me for
my sister’s wedding reception. He came and had a great time with my family.
While there, my dad told him about an open position in the valley in T’s area
of expertise and encouraged him to apply. My sisters and I joked about me
having to break up with my boyfriend because he got a job in my home town,
which I had vowed to never live in again. Time went on and the interview in my
hometown kept getting pushed back. Meanwhile I was becoming increasingly more adamant
about moving to Arizona. After selling my college apartment contract to move
home while I applied to jobs in Phoenix, I decided to break up with T. I was
super convinced that I was going to move to Arizona. He really wanted to stay
in the Rocky Mountains, but was starting to get desperate for a job anywhere. I
just didn’t see any plausible way for us to have a future together. And
honestly, I wasn’t sure if I really wanted a future together. It was a hard
decision to make, but I felt like it was the right thing to do.
2-3 weeks after I broke up with T. a job
in my hometown fell into my lap. The first counselor in the YSA bishopric is
the COO of a major employer in town. He called me to see if I would speak in
church the next week. I agreed and then he started making small talk, inquiring
about what I was doing back in town. When I told him what I was doing and that
I was looking for jobs in HR, he got so excited and told me that his company
had an opening for recruiter, and that if I would send him my resume in the
morning, he’d send it to the HR Director. It all happened so fast that I didn’t
know how to say no to it. The next morning I got a call from the HR Director
saying that he’d received my resume and although it was short notice, would I
be willing to come in for an interview the following day? So I went in for an
interview and they said that they’d get back to me in a couple of days. A
couple of days later, they called and asked for my references and invited me
back for a second interview. The day after my second interview, I received a
job offer that was far beyond my wildest dreams. Although I had vowed (many
times) that I would never move back to my hometown, I knew that I was supposed
to take the job. There were too many fine coincidences for it to have been by
chance. It all happened so fast that I didn’t have time to doubt, which I think
God knew I would do if given the chance. About the time that I received the job
offer, I was starting to notice how much I was missing T, but knew nothing had
changed and didn’t think anything would change.
Meanwhile down in Utah, T had accepted a
job offer that way far below what he was qualified for. On the day that he was
supposed to do the pre-employment drug test and paperwork, (approx. 2 weeks
after my job offer) he woke up feeling really uneasy about it. Later that day,
he got a call from my new employer inviting him for an interview several weeks
earlier than they’d planned. So he came up for the interview on a Thursday not
expecting anything to come from it. He told them in the interview that he was
set to start a new job on Monday and that he wouldn’t start and then quit, so
they told him that they’d let him know by Friday afternoon. That night I woke
up in the middle of the night bawling and praying out loud for Heavenly Father
to let him get a job here. And to be honest, I was surprised that I felt that
strongly about it. Sure enough, God answered my prayers and Friday afternoon he
got a phone call and an offer that was far better than any offer that he would’ve
gotten anywhere else. He accepted it and moved to my hometown a few weeks
later.
Now we are both working for the same
company in a town that I never planned to live in and he had no other ties to.
We have been seeing a lot of each other and both feel very strongly that this
is where we need to be. For the first time in a very long time, I don’t feel
lost. I don’t feel like I am wandering down a path that I can’t see. Now I can
see that when D blessed me to know that I was on the right path, he was correct.
When I felt like I was wandering through a field rather than walking down the
paved road of life, God was strategically placing rocks for me to stumble over.
I needed to feel lost and encounter lots of obstacles so the right people would
catch me and join me in my journey. It wasn’t until recently that I realized
that they aren’t temporary companions. We are meant to make our journey
together.
Through all of this, I’ve learned to keep
on keeping on. When I get discouraged I just need to remind myself of the song
that says “Don’t you worry, child. See heaven’s got a plan for you.” God has a
plan for us all, and he will make sure that the pieces of that plan fall in to
place when they need to.
