Patience in the Lord's Timing

So, our last few months have been full of ups & downs... Some of which I'm going to talk about here, & others which are just part of every-day life. While no one enjoys challenges, sometimes it's easier to see the bigger picture or the blessings when you look BACK on them. So here's to going back a few months... :)

And so, on to our first dilemma... Obviously, last fall we knew we were expecting our third baby. We also knew that you just can't fit three car-seats into the back seat of a car. And so, we knew that in the next few months, we'd need to be upgrading vehicles to a van. Well, only a few weeks after we'd found out we were expecting (and before we'd even announced it), my Grandpa Erickson asked us if we were at all interested in buying his van from him. We assured him that we were! But he's a pretty down-to-business, take-care-of-it-right-now kind of guy, & so he arranged right then & there to have us come talk with him about it that upcoming Friday. Well, this wasn't something we'd exactly budgeted for yet, but having lived with him for a year, we knew that he'd be hoping for payment ON that day. And so, we eventually decided to use up our "Emergency Savings", as well as my "Piano savings" & pay him cash for the van, instead of trying to take out a loan for money that we DID already have. Although it never feels good to part with your "Emergency Savings", it was a lot harder for me to part with my "Piano savings", because I knew that it probably would never be replaced, at least not in the near future. And to make my heart-ache even worse, we just been looking at pianos over the last few weeks, which made it that much harder to part with. I knew we needed a van, but I was really looking forward to having my very own piano too. Selfish, I know, but it's hard to change gears from wants to needs, when your want is so close to being satisfied. But, without further ado, we bought my Grandpa's van from him, paying cash & now being pretty savings-free. A scary feeling, but at least we were debt-free, right?

Then, only a few weeks later, our dishwasher leaked... I was visiting my parent's house one evening & returned late at night to find water all over the floor. Being late & since Laron was at work, I simply got a towel & wiped it up, thinking that it probably wouldn't end up being a big deal. By the next day though, the floor had warped up & was considerably "bubbled" in the middle, making me realize that this was indeed a bigger deal than I had first thought. After talking with Laron about it, making calls to the insurance, & having a flood restoration company come out and look at it, we realized that because of our high deductible on our insurance, it would cost us about the same amount of money to replace the floor through the insurance or to just do it ourselves. And since we knew we didn't have the money to fix it right then (with Christmas coming up, as well as a new baby on the way), we decided that our only choice was to eventually fix it ourselves (the key word being eventually).

And so, for several weeks, we dealt with an annoying hole in the floor, where of course every crumb on the floor seemed to make it into & where each of my children craved to pick at & play in. A couple weeks later Laron found a website online where he could order free sample pieces of our kind of wood floor, so we hoped that maybe we could just find the right color for our floor & patch up the hole without spending SO much money out of our pockets. But we soon discovered that it's just about impossible to match a 30-year old wood floor color, because it has faded & been worn down so much over the years. And so, out of necessity & despiration, Laron creatively decided to just patch up our floor with our growing assortment of sample pieces & call that good for now. So now we've got a lovely little patch of mismatched wood colors right in the middle of our kitchen floor, with no real replacement date in the near future. But I DO have to admit that it is nice no longer having a torn-up hole in the middle of our floor anymore.

And so, the big question on our minds is, NOW WHAT? Our dishwasher had never leaked before & it's never leaked since, so do we start by replacing that? For now, I guess we'd just better start saving up at least for a new floor, but no one wants to replace a floor if the dishwasher's just going to leak again. But, as far as Laron is concerned, the floor is "fixed", so he's not too worried about it. But as for me, I'm still dreaming for the day when my entire kitchen floor will be the same color...

Then, around the first week of December, I got a phonecall from my Mom asking me if I wanted a free piano. I was pretty skeptical when I asked for details, because I knew from my experience looking for a used piano on KSL that free meant in terrible condition. But she said her next door neighbor was getting a grand piano & was looking for someone to give their old one to before the following weekend (when they'd be hosting a big get-together). I still was hesitant, although grateful for the offer, because while I knew that my "dream piano" was now farther away than ever, I also didn't want some ugly, shabby looking thing in my nice new house cluttering it up, even if it was a piano. And so I went to look at it, and although it certainly wasn't exactly what I was looking for, it was in pretty nice condition for being "free". It definitely could use some touch-ups (if I could just figure out how to touch-up a piano!), but I think the longer we've had it, the more I like it. And interestingly enough, the following week I was given a calling to be a Music Director in Young Women's (putting together musical numbers & teaching camp songs, etc.), & just this last week was given the calling of playing the piano in Relief Society (in addition to my other calling). And so, I'm realizing that when the Lord has a need for you in His kingdom, he prepares the way for you to fulfill it. He didn't grant me the wish of my "dream piano", but he filled my need of obtaining a way to practice the piano for my callings through another avenue.

Also, another blessing through the whole piano adventure was that my parent's neighbors were needing to down-size their Christmas tree in order to have room in their living room for their new Grand Piano, and so that was offered to us as well! Just a few weeks earlier, when we were setting up our old Christmas tree (a hand-me-down that was only 4 feet tall), I was sulking over the fact that our Christmas tree looked so pitiful in our nice, new house & was feeling sorry for myself that we'd not been able to purchase a nice, new full one. But the Spirit whispered to me to just be patient, and so I'd been praying to be able to be content with what we had until next year. And so, when we put together this magnificant, FREE 7-foot Christmas tree in our living room only a few weeks later, I had to shed a tear as I realized how mindful & aware Heavenly Father is of our concerns, no matter how frivilous they sometimes may seem.

And so we come to our last area of concern, worry, & excitement. About a year ago, Laron was feeling unhappy with his job situation (working nights & not working with people), and so we were praying about what other routes to try (we've tried a LOT of different things). Through kind-of a series of events & details, we really felt like Laron needed to explore the option of becoming a Seminary Teacher. And so, for the last year, he has been taking classes to do just that. A few weeks ago he taught Seminary in a local high-school for 2 weeks & was observed and evaluated, and now we're just waiting for the final word on whether he'll make the "cut" to go on to Student Teaching. Everyone that I've told about this admits that they think Laron would make a GREAT Seminary Teacher & I totally have to agree (although I might be a little partial!)... He has great people-skills & has a personality & a love for the gospel that is very contageous. The only tricky part is that only 3 people out of his class will be chosen to go on to Student Teaching, so it is VERY competitive! If he gets chosen to go on, then he'll do Student Teaching for a year (while still having to work on top of it) & have ONLY that time-period to be potentially offered a job (they don't put people's names on a waiting-list for the next year or anything). So even if he makes this cut, it still will be a hard next year of work & lesson preparation & waiting for a job offer. But we know that if this is what is meant to be, that all the details will work out, just like they have in other areas of our lives. We know that the Lord has a plan for us, but it's often difficult trying to figure it out.

But our waiting period for this portion is almost over, as we should find out next Monday (May 9th) whether or not he's made the cut. And so, here's to wishing Laron the best of luck & letting him know that he's #1 in my book!