Wow! Where did April go? Is April one of those abnormally short months like February? Or did I really just miss a whole month of my life? It feels like I must have been in a coma for the past 4.5 weeks or so, because I can not remember much of anything that happened in April at all. I guess just add it to the list of other months that I can't remember much about because nothing of note really happened in them. The one thing I believe that I will remember about April 2011 is how crazy and hectic of a month it was for me, as well as it being the month that my family found out about the move to California.
It really has been a hectic past couple of weeks. I have been busier at work now than I ever have been before in my life. I am working 60+ hour weeks and I still have plenty of other things to get done. Things at church have kept me busy between my calling, stake requests, and elders quorum activities; it has not left much time for much else. The biggest thing that happened in April though was that my Dad interviewed, received an offer for, and accepted a job in California. It seems like it is really going to be a good opportunity for him. He will be working for the church taking care of the buildings in the Oakland area, and it will be something that he will love and do very well at. The only downside to the job is that it is in northern California, which is pretty far away from me and the rest of our extended family here in Texas.
It is through situations like this, that have seemed to happen pretty repetitively over the past year or so of my life, that have helped me to (or sometimes forced me to) gain a deeper trust in the Lord and his plan for my happiness. I really want what is best for my family and I believe that this new job in California will be great for my Dad and Mom and for the family overall. At the same time, I don't want them to move because I want them to continue to be close to me. It is the situations like these that seem to have arisen quite frequently over the past year of my life that have gotten to focus my doubts and desires on trying to align them with what the Lord wants for me and my family. Often times recently it seems as if my personal desires and what the Lord has planned for me are different things. I am learning to trust in his plan more as I encounter such differences in opinion (as if I had any choice), and it really helps bring a sense of peace and clarity to my life.
The fact of the matter is that the Lord loves us all and he has a plan for us. He knows us better than we even know ourselves, and thus knows what we need better than we do. It is a very hard lesson to learn, and it is not easy to accept when things happen in life that seem so contrary to how you would plan them if it were up to you and only you. However, I have been able to see over the course of the past few months that even when things do not happen how I would like them to, they often turn out for the best in the end. This helps me to trust more in his plan the next time things do not go the way that I would like them to. The last point I want to make is regarding the sense of purpose, direction, and peace that comes to your life by learning to accept the Lord's will rather than being upset and trying to fight against it. By accepting what the Lord has presented each of us in our life as what will truly be best for us, we demonstrate our trust in him. This trust and faith in his plan then allows him to bless us in ways that he otherwise would not be able to, and our lives can become enriched in the way that the Lord wants. We then begin to become the types of people the Lord needs us to become to further his work here on earth. I hope that I can continue to progress in this area, and that I am quicker to accept the Lord's will in the future even when it does not match the plan for my life that I have in my head. 05-01-11
