Curve Ball

I was talking to one of my friends last week about how sometimes you wonder when you became an adult. Sometimes I feel like I am still a kid, just forced into adult situations.

Last week Richie was informed that the plant he just recently started working for here in NC is closing “indefinitely” in 2 months. Talk about being thrown a curve ball. The company is laying off about 4oo employees right before Christmas. We are lucky because Richie has been told that he will not be layed off right away; he can continue working for Georgia Pacific but will just have to travel to different locations and help out with various projects until or if they decide to start back up again, or if they find a permanent position for him somewhere. Of course, this totally changes all the plans we had once made. To build a house, to make North Carolina our home, to finally get all of our things out of storage.

The first thing I kept asking myself was why? We had prayed about this move before we left Oregon and we had felt that it was the right thing to do. We had prayed about what house to make our home, and we had also felt the same way about that. And now, everything was going to change, just like that.

Then I remembered all the trouble we had been having getting the builder to finally start our home. As of the day Richie found out this news, they had not started. I quickly realized that we were so blessed. We have nothing to tie us down here. We can find another job and go where we need to. If they had started on our house when they were supposed to, we probably would have closed sometime last week. We’d have a mortgage to pay and Richie would have to stay with Georgia Pacific, an unstable job right now, even if it meant having to leave his family to travel for work very often.

Our Heavenly Father is watching over our family, I have no doubt of that. I feel silly now for getting so upset about things not going the way we planned. I think sometimes we feel like we know more than He does, like we have our whole life planned out and we’re just hoping Heavenly Father helps us along.

I am so grateful for all of our blessings. For this little house we’re renting that provides a shelter, for the food we can put on our table every day, for Richie’s education, which is an insurance policy at times like this, for our amazing family that have expressed their support, unconditionally. Most of all, I am so grateful for the gospel and for the comfort and peace it provides at times like this. As I look back now, I realize how all week last week I was being prepared for this. The gospel doctrine lesson that talked about understanding and accepting Heavenly Father’s will. The scriptures I read that reminded me to always trust in our Heavenly Father. The wonderful General Conference talks that truly felt like they were being spoken right at me.

I would be lying if I said that I was happy as can be. I still get down at times during the day, but then I am quickly reminded of all the things I have to be grateful for. No, we don’t know where we’re going from here, the job hunt will have to start up once again. But we know that our Heavenly Father knows our needs and will never give us more than we can handle. We are forever grateful for His love and for His watch over our little family.