WAITING, TRUSTING, PREPARING...IT'S HARD

I recently finished Stephanie Nielson's book Heaven is Here again and it's brought my focus to what my real life goals are and who I want and need to be:

A Forever Family

I am so blessed to have two wonderful families that are great examples of Christ-like people. They are honest, kind, patient, loving, forgiving, fun, incredible people...each and every one of them. One day, during my senior year of high school, I was sitting in a seminary class watching a video about eternal families. During it, I had the strongest impression that my calling in life was to be a wife and a mother. I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that it's what I wanted and needed to do with my life...and I couldn't have been more excited. You see, I was also dating Thomas at the time and secretly hoped that he would be my companion through it all! ;)

Luckily, I was blessed to become his wife a few years later and were sealed as our own family unit. Within just a couple of years of our newly married lives, we had overcome and pushed through unexpected trials, illnesses, and heartache. We put our trust in the Lord and prayed for strength to move forward and begin our family as we had planned.

Obviously, God works in mysterious ways, teaching and preparing us for future adventures...although we have no idea what they might be. Our hopes for starting a family have not yet come to pass, but we are focused on doing our best to prepare a home, life, and a sturdy family for them to come to. With my internship coming to an end...and no leads on where I'll be next, my faith in the Lord is again being tried. 

Let me be honest: it's hard. Limbo is hard. Waiting is hard. Trusting is hard. Patience is hard. Preparing is hard. 

...but it's doable.

That's what I learned from Stephanie's book...that even though it's hard and life is not always what we expect or want it to be, it is wonderful. I am so blessed and when I choose to focus on those blessings, I know I can push through the hard stuff, because I have the Lord and a great friends and family on my side...and thank goodness for them, for you! Thank you, thank you!

(If you haven't read Heaven is Here, you need to. She's a beautiful woman and mother who was in a plane crash and burned 80% of her body. She writes about meeting her husband, becoming a mother, and overcoming that great trial and the pain of recovering from the accident. I cried...and I don't usually cry in books.)