Personal Proverbs

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." ~Proverbs 3:5-6

I have been trying to follow this counsel more consciously over the last few weeks, and the tender mercies keep pouring in. I still mostly feel like I'm floating and flittering about, but my day-to-day life has more purpose, which has been much more fulfilling. I know I'm moving to England in September, but my summer plans have still remained entirely up in the air... which has maintained a slightly elevated level of "WHAT AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE?!"

So I've been fasting and praying to be directed in my summer plans, as well as in daily service opportunities. And it seems that the more I pay attention to promptings of the Spirit, the more I find myself being in the right place at the right time to help someone. I could ramble on with several examples, but I'll just share the most recent two.

1) After picking up a few job applications yesterday I felt prompted to go to Pizza Hut for dinner. Since I rarely eat out and can't even remember the last time I went to Pizza Hut, that seemed very odd and I didn't want to. But the prompting came again, so I went. And while I was waiting for my overpriced pizza rolls, a man came in to order and he only spoke Spanish. Of course none of the employees spoke Spanish,  so I spoke up and offered to help. The only hiccough was that I didn't know the word for "crust"... haha. I know that Roberto probably could've managed with gesturing and the few English words he knew even if I weren't there, but I'm still grateful that I listened to the Spirit and that I was able to offer my assistance.

2) I REALLY need a job (according to me and my starving bank account). But for some reason, God appears to disagree, at least for the time being. This morning as I was filling out those new job applications, I got the feeling that I needed to wait a couple days to turn them in, so I dated everything for tomorrow. Well, tonight I got a call from my brother asking if I would be willing and able to go to Denver and help him and his family out for a bit when his wife has the twins that she's been a surrogate for (a whole separate blogpost...haha). She isn't due til July, so I was surprised when he told me that there is a slight issue with one of the babies and they will be taking them before 5 June. After doing some research, I've found that I can get there for only $30! So I guess I'll be putting off that whole job thing at least a while longer yet. But I feel good about this new development, and it seems clear that this is the right thing for me to be doing now.

A quote from President Monson describes best how I've been feeling lately: "I've always said that if the Lord has an errand to be run, I want Him to know that [Dana Blackburn] will run that errand for Him." 

It's been most rewarding feeling that come to fruition over the last few weeks. I have no idea why all my time has been occupied by serving others recently, but I am so very grateful it has! My motto growing up was always "Service is the key to happiness," and that still holds true for me. I am especially aware that this time next year when I'm feeling homesick that I will look back on this time with great fondness. I don't know if I'll ever again be able to drop everything to help a family member or friend when the need arises. But as I told my brother tonight, "What else is an unemployed sister for?" 

So for now I guess I'll be content to go where the wind blows, which actually means where the Spirit whispers...