The flight of the Spirit

I've been on the ride of my life lately. I think back over the last few months and it is just flat out unbelievable how much my life has changed.

My divorce finished on the last day of December, last year, and my kids have transitioned from being depressed, unhappy, yet tolerant, to being VERY happy kids. They are sitting here playing in this same room, having so much fun together. I've been amazingly blessed to have such wonderful kids and I feel so very fortunate to have them in a MUCH healthier environment now than what they spent the first few years of their lives in.

I moved into a new house in mid January, and I remember the day I closed on the house. So many MANY months of work and planning, hoping, even praying, and I was fortunate enough to actually be able to buy the new house. The complications involved were many, but in the end it happened. The day I closed on the house, I brought the kids to it, we sat down in their room and I tried to tell them of my hopes and dreams with the new house. I talked to them about what the future might hold for us. I told them of the things that were behind us. We cried together. We said some prayers together. My heart was filled with relief, joy, and fear.

I had taken all of the money in my bank and put it into a down payment on the new house, putting 20% down on it and spending the rest in upgrades for the house (things like tiling the entire house). I did this two weeks before 10% of the people where I worked got laid off. I knew it was a risk that I could have done all of these things only to lose my job, but I felt it was the right choice. I didn't know it at the time, but I was following a prompting with respect to knowing somehow for sure that I wouldn't be laid off.

Fast forward a few months and I was moved into the new house, the kids had a brand new bunk bed that they LOVED (and still do), a play room with toys in it that they can make as big a mess in as they want, a back yard with grass and trees to play in, parks close by with slides and all kinds of other fun things... We had turned our lives around, life was good. It was in the middle of this time that I found the Church, an old friend sent Missionaries to me, I joined the Church, and shortly thereafter, I was Baptized. It was during this process that I began this blog.

I made so many friends at Church, learned SO much, followed the teachings, and really embraced a whole new way of life. Fast forward a few more months, and something truly wondrous happened. After struggling with finding a companion to spend my time with, she was finally revealed to me. I began spending time with someone that I just couldn't believe was there for me. I was in a relationship of the kind I had previously only ever dreamed of. Spending time with them, I felt as though I had known her my entire life, we just FIT - we had so many good experiences together, and I can truly say I have been growing into an even better person through her.

Fast forward a few more months, and I have now been spending a lot of time with Barbara. We've been able to spend time with my kids, and we have been blessed with some really amazing times together. Some of my favorite moments have been simple quiet times, holding Barbara's hand while we watch the kids play happily together. During those moments, it is easy to picture what the future holds for us. The road we are on is not a short one, and there are many hurdles in our path, but I think it is a very fine road we travel indeed.

My parents aren't in the Church, and so they don't understand it. I see the importance of explaining things to them, of trying to help them understand why it is so important to me. Recently, I had the opportunity to go to the Temple for Baptisms for the dead for the first time. This was a very powerful experience for me. I finally realized more clearly how important it is for us to help as many people as we can that weren't able to receive the ordinances of the Church while here on earth. At the time I went to the Temple, they explained to me that we now have one hundred and thirty Temples spread throughout the world, on every continent. The president and his wife explained that when they were young, there were only a mere seven Temples (and I think at that time they were all on the same continent).

To think of how much the Church has grown in just their lifetime, to think of how much good work is done in those Temples every day, to think of how much the Church will grow during my lifetime... it is a good feeling. We have a lot of work to do, and it feels like the momentum of the Church is growing. You can't help but look at the events taking place in the world today and wonder about how much longer it will be before Jesus comes again. Perhaps there is a reason we are doing so much more work in our Temples now than we did in the past...

I feel like I have been on a flight with the Spirit these past few months. We are scarcely halfway through the year and I feel like I have progressed more in my life this year than I have in the entire rest of my life! Seeing how far I have come this year already, it shows me just a small glimpse of what my future has in store for me. :)