THE BEGINNING, part 1

Alma 37: 37 Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

I have come through my life to find peace and direction and wisdom in that scripture. I have come to know and trust that my life will be on a path of joy as long as I counsel with my Heavenly Father in all things. He will direct my path for good.

My life was one of ideal from what others on the outside could see. I was happily married. I had three children and was blessed with the ability to be a stay at home mom. We needed a slight supplement to our income and I had been blessed to build a business that I worked only 20 hours a month at that provided an ample income to meet our needs.

Life was good. We were happy. Both my husband and I were serving in callings at church and we found great fulfillment in our lives. But, I have come to understand that I often feel at peace and feel firm in where I am in life when the Lord asks me to change it. I was driving in the car one day after being out running errands. I received a strong impression that I needed to quit my part-time business. This was nothing I had ever considered before, and I didn’t see any logic to it. I counseled with my husband about this. We were both confused as to why that would be, as this business was very rewarding financially compared to the time commitment that it required. We were not sure how things would work financially, but moved forward with faith and I spent the next two months dissolving my business. The next two months I spent in prayer letting my Heavenly Father know that I trusted in Him and that I would take whatever course he directed for me.

One day I picked up the newspaper and saw an ad for a full-time position at a local company. The spirit strongly testified to me that I needed to apply for the position. I submitted my resume even though I did not feel as though I was qualified for the position. To my surprise I received a phone call and was asked to come in for an interview. My interview went very well and before I knew it I was filling out paperwork to start working full-time. I began to panic and to question my decision. How could the Lord be asking me to go to work full-time? Haven’t the prophets encouraged us to be at home? I continued forward despite my confusion, as I knew that Lord had directed my path and had put me here.