About a year ago Braedon and I were frantically trying to get ready to make it to the temple in time for a 7:00 endowment session for ward temple night. As soon as Braedon got home from work and changed, we rushed to the car, and next thing we knew he had dropped his keys in-between the driver's seat and the center console- basically the never ending black hole.
After we took too much time fishing out his keys, we hopped on the freeway breaking a few speed limits to only hit bumper to bumper traffic as we made it downtown. Apparently there was a Jazz game that night.
We quickly realized we were not going to make the 7:00 session, but wanted to go anyways and figured we'd catch the 8:00.
We parked, walked into the temple, and as we were scanning our recommends I saw someone I knew out of the corner of my eye. It was my Dad! He had just finished a session and was on his way out.
Chance meeting? Coincidence? Definitely not.
At this particular point in time my parents were separated, and I think it was especially hard for my dad because he didn't have anyone at home to keep him company. I think the Lord provided a way for this meeting to happen for a few reasons. We ended up having dinner with my dad in the temple, and I think it was nice for him to not have to eat alone that night.
Perhaps another reason why this meeting was made to happen was so that Braedon and I could see my Dad's example of temple attendance, especially during such a hard time for our whole family. By the way, this has a really happy ending. My parents are actually back together, and doing great.
As I've thought about this experience I've realized it's a pretty good depiction of following the Lord's plan. A lot of times we are working towards a "righteous desire", in this case: going to the temple. We hit speed bumps, roadblocks, and mishaps along the way that can feel like major setbacks, in this case: dropping our keys and getting stuck in traffic.
Sometimes when we hit these setbacks we are tempted to ask the why questions. Why did you drop your keys when we are in such a hurry?? Why doesn't the Lord just part the traffic so we can get to the temple on time??
What we don't realize is that if we would just have faith in the Lord's plan, the end result can be much greater than even we could imagine. This is because the Lord sees the end from the beginning, and he also desires to bless us when we keep his commandments. Rather than just meet our ward for temple night, we got to sit down and have dinner with my Dad in the temple, and then do a session together after.
Rather than ask those icky why questions, we can focus on the what. What can I learn?
I started writing this post because I feel like I am going through something similar to this experience just on a larger scale right now. I'm also certain that this type of experience will probably happen more than once in my lifetime and I should probably document it so when I forget next time I'll be able to remind myself what I learned.
Being a nursing graduate in Utah is hard, especially with the saturation of nurses here. Dang mormons. Jk.
I have applied for jobs, hand delivered my resume, tweaked and re-tweaked said resume, interviewed, networked, written thank you notes, and been turned down again and again. Really it's just a miracle to even get interviewed at this point.
So, I have this "righteous desire", to work in a speciality that I love and have regularly scheduled full time hours (something my job just doesn't have right now). I feel like I'm hitting those setbacks- getting turned down over and over- and it's easy to allow myself to feel defeated. However, I've felt the Lord's spirit encouraging me throughout this long process, and I know that there is something wonderful waiting ahead- I just have to be patient. I do think I'm getting a little more patient. I check my email probably five times a day now rather than every five minutes (I'm not exaggerating when I say I used to check it every five minutes, it was slightly excessive).
What I do know is this; as long as we keep the commandments, listen to the spirit, and continually try to do our best, everything WILL work out!
To all you new grads out there- good luck!! May the odds be ever in your favor. (dooo...dooo..doo...doo)
Here I am after graduation with my new pink, engraved, pediatric stethoscope that my cute husband got me. Oblivious to the rough job search ahead. My mom keeps reminding me that even though this first year has been hard, nursing is an amazing career life-long and this will seem like a short moment once I've landed my "dream nursing job".
I still have the same excitement to "start my nursing career", but I'm a little less naive in thinking I'd get my dream job right away. It's not easy, but that's how you know it'll be worth it!
Aaaaand a few Pinterest quotes that have hit me hard lately. I know I know, roll your eyes because they are pretty cheesy but it doesn't make them any less good!
And last but not least, a few pictures (and people) that I scan always count on to make me smile....
Not only was this a happy moment, but notice my nephew Stillman in the left-hand corner. I think he really captured the essence of this shot and I can just picture him whipping that sparkler in circles and hear his excited "woooooooo!!!" just by looking at this picture.
This guy. Best part about being married? You get to take everything on as a team.
Ok sorry, but it made you smile right??
