Sometimes it really is not fun being grown up and having to make decisions....
Last week Jake was offered a job with ATK in Clearfield, UT. Of course we were excited. We would love to live by family again but- we had just set ourselves up for getting his PhD.
We felt good about that. We turned down a PhD before and kept coming back to it. A PhD would be really good with a future career that is pretty flexible. We are established here- we bought a house, we have good friends, we can walk to a good elementary school, I just registered Brooke for Kindergarten, I just re-stained the kitchen cabinets. Lubbock isn't the prettiest place around, but we like it here. It feels like home.
But, we would love to live close to our family again. We miss out on a lot of family events, and we miss the mountains. There would be a lot of benefits to living in Utah. ATK is offering a really good relocation deal- they will pack us up and move everything (including our cars.) They pay for plane tickets, rental cars, hotel for up to 2 months.
It's really hard to move though- new ward, new friends, we have to find new doctors, new dentists, and new home.... We've been through it all before many times, but it gets harder as the kids get older.
We've been praying and praying... they both feel like good choices. We want to do what's right- not just what we want to do or what others want us to do. We've been back and forth many times. In fact we are still unsure. I wish we had a definite answer one way or the other. It sure would make this easier! I keep thinking of the quote by Elder Scott...
"It is vitally important to recognize that the Lord also responds a third way to prayer by
withholding an answer when the prayer is offered. Why would He do that?
He is our perfect Father. He loves us beyond our capacity to understand. He knows what is best for us. He sees the end from the beginning. He wants us to act to gain needed experience:
When He answers yes, it is to give us confidence.
When He answers no, it is to prevent error.
When He withholds an answer, it is to have us grow through faith in Him, obedience to His commandments, and a willingness to act on truth. We are expected to assume accountability by acting on a decision that is consistent with His teachings without prior confirmation. We are not to sit passively waiting or to murmur because the Lord has not spoken. We are to act.
Most often what we have chosen to do is right. He will confirm the correctness of our choices His way. That confirmation generally comes through packets of help found along the way. We discover them by being spiritually sensitive. They are like notes from a loving Father as evidence of His approval. If, in trust, we begin something which is not right, He will let us know before we have gone too far. We sense that help by recognizing troubled or uneasy feelings.."
- Richard G Scott
I'm counting on that!
