I can’t stop thinking about how Heavenly Father has
individual plans for each of us. It is so special. I wanted to write a little
bit about how our plan fell into place.
First of all, I now advise all my newlywed peeps to MOVE
AWAY! Get out of your comfort zones together. Get away from your friends and
family and just RELY on one another. It is so powerful! I am grateful for
Shaun’s wonderful job that brought us to Georgia. Out of the entire state we
ended up in Alpharetta where we had wonderful friends who could tell us where
to live and which ward to join. I think that truly made all of the difference.
The people we have met will be life long friends. For example, The Wernlis. Chris
was the only other member in Shaun’s office. He had just moved from being a rep
in Florida. We became super close with him and his wife. Their constant raves
about Florida were imprinted in our minds. Who knew this would play such a huge
part in our decision?
Before Shaun could get into a permanent territory, part of
his training involved covering an area temporarily for three months. We were
really hoping for Houston because my brother lives there, but when that didn’t
work out Baltimore was next on our list. So when we got Grand Rapids, MI we
were confused and frustrated. Thankfully the Lord knew the plan. . .
Shaun was the “West guy” in his office. Everybody knew that
we wanted to end up out West. To our surprise, that started changing this last
year. We loved the culture in the South and the church out in the ‘mission
field.’ So we decided to be open minded to other areas.
Fall came and Florida showed up on the open territory list,
but Shaun wasn’t done with his three-month cover. The position soon filled and
that was that. Weeks later toward the end of his cover, we were finally able to
apply. We considered a move to Dallas. We didn’t know how we truly felt about
Texas until we found out that the new Florida rep withdrew and Fort Myers,
Florida was back on the table! Instantly we felt Florida was right and decided to go for it.
Shaun was able to show many of his successes from Grand
Rapids and really shine in his interview. I don’t know what would have happened
if we ended up in Houston or Baltimore like we originally planned, but it’s
amazing that the cover position ended right before they wanted Shaun in
Florida {The Houston and Baltimore jobs would have run into the New Year}.
Prayer works. I have a testimony of it. I also have a strong
testimony of tithing. The lessons we learn from it are so important and the
experiences that come to us build our faith. Heavenly Father is real and his
plan is the best thing for us.
