Feeling Like Abraham...

(Slightly lengthy... Ye Be Forewarned!)

I probably should have issued this update before any of you had time to leave comments, since today's post may seem to completely contradict last week's sentiments! Still, I want you to know how much I appreciate your words of encouragement. It's a wonderful feeling to be supported in something! In recent weeks, we have felt much like Abraham as our willingness to obey was tested. But like all trials of faith, if we handle it well, the blessings come.

For us, the blessing came the day after posting about our decision to up and go to Florida. That day, Jonathan received a job offer at Spring Creek Elementary School here in Provo. Jono thought he had given a terrible interview, when in actuality they were quite impressed by his responses. He was extended a 4th grade position in a technology classroom, where each student has their own computer. The school will pay for Jono to receive technology endorsements, as well as an ESL endorsement. It's really a great opportunity. But when we first found out about it, we thought it was Heavenly Father's way of simply putting our mind at ease. That we could go to Florida and pursue positions... knowing that if nothing worked out, an opportunity would be awaiting us here. But it became difficult to even concentrate on Florida. It was like the thought of Florida had been dismissed from our minds. But though it took a lot of focus, we continued to pursue leads in Florida, check on openings, and simply pray like crazy to know what we should do. We wanted the Lord to know that despite the opportunity here, we were still quite willing to leave and go to Florida. Then yesterday I had an interesting experience.

When I opened my scriptures to read, the page fell to Section 9 of the Doctrine & Covenants. Knowing the content, it felt even more than I had been guided to this section. When I came to the verse about the "stupor of thought," I wondered if that had been what we were experiencing. I wondered if our difficulty in concentrating on Florida was our being caused to "forget the thing which is wrong." But what really hit me was verse 11: "Behold, it was expedient when you commenced; but you feared, and the time is past, and it is not expedient now."

A little background. In December of 2007, Jonathan and I packed up our apartment and were about to move to Palm Harbor, Florida. We had just felt prompted to go, and so we were going. Then, less than a week before we planned to leave, our housing fell through. We feared- just as verse 11 stated- going to Florida at that point, and so we decided to stay and have Jonathan finish out his schooling here. Whatever the reason, it does feel that the time has passed... at least for now. Perhaps it is the state of the economy. If we had gone in 2007, Jonathan would be applying to Florida districts as a local applicant (because of cutbacks, many districts are not even opening positions to external applicants). But Jonathan will receive notable endorsements if he works at Spring Creek, endorsements (particularly ESL) that are preferred by Florida districts. While we're not ruling Florida out, it does seem that perhaps the timing is not quite right. But we will see. We are more than happy to allow the Lord to guide us, because only He knows what is best for us.