"Remember When it Rained? I Touched the Ground and
Looked up High and Called your name. "
Right now, my husband and I are in a storm that has literally brought us to our knees. The dark cloud rolled in and blocked out the sun, we couldn't see the steps ahead, and we were left at a loss as to what to do. Gratefully, I am teaching Gospel Doctrine at our church and the lesson I had been preparing this week, really struck me. In the Book of Mormon in 2 Nephi 14:6 it says: "And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and a place of refuge, and a covert from storm and from rain." I had felt caught up in this storm and needed a place of refuge. My first thought was that I wanted to seek refuge by going to the Mormon temple. I yearned to go there, but it is two hours to drive there and two hours to drive back and a two hour session. We had made prior commitments that made it hard to get away that day. So I called a friend and told her what was going on. She said her husband could come over and give Don and me a Priesthood blessing that night.
As he laid his hands on my head that evening, another scripture came clearly to my mind. 2 Nephi 8:16 "And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion: Behold, thou art my people." The words the Lord wanted Don and me to hear were being spoken through my friend's husband. And his hands were the shadow of the Lord's hand covering us and giving us protection from the storm. Since that blessing, I have felt the presence of the Lord stronger than I have felt in a long time. Thoughts have come to my mind and made things clear to me that weren't before. I feel a peace even in this uncertain time.
"Tears of Hope Stream Down my Skin, Tears for you that
Will Not Die. They Magnify the One Within."
So maybe at this point you are saying "alright already, tell us what your storm is!" Before I do, let me preface it with this, my Husband joined the Army 13 years ago. Once we had been in a certain number of years, we decided that we had sacrificed so much for the military that we might as well finish out Don's 20 years and then retire and have money to live off of while we went and figured out what else he wanted to do for a career. We have been blessed with great insurance that has allowed us to have all of our babies for free, to seek medical advice, to have surgeries, and to take our children to the hospital when ever needed without having to pay anything out of pocket. We also have children with special needs and one of our children has a therapy called ABA therapy that costs $36,000 a year and we only pay $25 a month for it. I have been blessed to stay home with my children because we have always lived within our means and have made ends meet. For these reasons we felt our plan of staying in the Military for 20 years made total sense. (Don is second from the right on the top row.)
Well two days ago, my husband called from work and told me that we only had two months left in the military till we had to get out. He was told last June that if he did not get promoted to E6 by March 2017 that he would have to get out. He started thinking about his reenlistment date and thinking that date would be the most accurate of when he would need to get out, because that is when his contract was up. A few weeks ago, I kept asking if he could look up in his paperwork when he had reenlisted, but between being in the field and long hours at work, he had been too busy to check.Wednesday of last week I decided to go through some boxes and found the reenlistment award and it said May 21, 2014. Meaning he had till May 21, 2016 in the Army. I panicked and called him and he said it was fine, he would talk to his Retention NCO and they would just let him extend till the March 2017 date. So when he finally got enough time to leave work and go talk to this guy he was told, "Sorry, if you would have come and talked to me a week ago, I could have extended you, but now it is too late." He talked to his commander and she said to talk to me and decide what options we had. We worked out something with his commander, that if Don can pass his PT test on Monday and go to the Promotion Board on Tuesday and pass it, then they might see about letting him extend. We didn't know that this board was happening till this last Friday. Yikes! He has been studying since Friday hoping that we can pass this. If not, we get out in May.
I have said it many times, "Life is what happens when you are making other plans." This rings so true in this situation. I also feel that on our straight path and stumbling block was put before us, a crossroads of sorts, where we had to stop and evaluate which path we were going to take. In the blessing Don got the other night he was told, "Sometimes the Lord allows you to go down a path so far only to realize that the path dead ends. But his reasoning behind that is to let you know that when you take the other path that you are on the right path, and you won't second guess yourself." So, we are going to shoot for him passing the PT test tomorrow and his Promotion Board on Tuesday, we feel like if it is the will of the Lord, he will be successful. If it is not, the Lord has another plan for us. It is a scary thought, to realize that in two months we could be jobless, without insurance, without a way to pay our mortgage or bills. To also think of having to make our son stop a therapy he has waited 9 months to start, that is making such a positive impact on him. Yet, I see the Lord's hand in our lives. In my last post on this blog, I talk about paying tithing and how my faith was tested in that. Well the Lord proved that he will keep his promises to us, if we keep doing all that we are suppose to do. In the midst of this storm, the Lord's hand is guiding us even if it is just one step at a time. I have faith that He has got this. That brings me peace and comfort. Let the storm rage on. The Lord is covering us with His hand.
"Remember when it rained? In the Water I remain."
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