Taking time for a class I didn't sign up for...

In an effort to not be unhelpfully vague (which some of you have commented is the case with some of my posts), I will share some specifics to illustrate the truth that GOD IS KEENLY AWARE OF EACH ONE OF US if we'll just take the time to notice it....and learn from it.

Because of my job, I get a lot of opportunities to be around some pretty amazing people. I don't talk about it much here because I don't ever want it to come across wrong. I totally get that the only reason I even know these people...the only reason they know me...is because of my job, perhaps one of the reasons I am most grateful for my current paycheck.

I had been invited to have dinner at the home of one of my true "idols" tonight. We had been trying to get together for months but things kept coming up for both of us and it eventually got rescheduled for tonight.

The Lord knew I needed it TONIGHT.

But, the amazing thing is that He knew I needed it back in 1985.
Now, THAT'S amazing.

You see, when I was 13 yrs old, living outside Louisville, Kentucky, I went to the first General Young Women's broadcast I can remember. It was Ardeth Kapp's first broadcast as the General Young Women President for the Church. And that was the year that the YW Theme and Values and value colors were introduced. I've talked about this before but suffice it to say, something happened to my little 13 year old heart when I heard Sister Kapp speak. I felt immediately connected to her. I remember thinking that if I could just have the chance to actually talk to her, I could totally figure all of life out. I loved her instantly through that satellite broadcast.

The Lord know I would need to feel that way about her.
Because He intended to use her at other times in my life.

Fast forward 19 years to 2004.

I was in Phoenix for a TOFW event and had reason to take Ardeth from the airport to the hotel. We had never really talked previously. But, I was there after a particularly heart-wrenching few weeks. Ardeth asked if I had time to go to dinner with her. I remember thinking, "What? Me? Go to dinner with Sister Kapp?" It was one of the most memorable nights of my life and the Lord spoke to me that night. Because of how I felt about life at that time and how I felt about HER, I truly believe she was the only person who could have reached me. Someday I'll share more of that experience.

(Since then, I can recall at least a half dozen times when, I've been sitting in my office on a hard day and Sister Kapp will poke her head in, or send an email, or call, just to say, "I've been thinking about you and I think you should know..." He has used her to talk to me when I couldn't quite hear Him.)

Fast forward 4 years to tonight.

I was having dinner at the home of Ardeth & Heber Kapp, after a particularly hard day. I had intended on just being a delightful dinner guest, enjoying the experience of being with one of my very most favorite married couples in the whole world. But, during the shrimp cocktail appetizer (and I hate shrimp cocktail), Heber started asking questions. We had a completely stimulating conversation about some things that, by the soup course, turned into a discussion about me...my life...

What transpired for me tonight was a combination of an invitation to "step it up", so to speak and a clear view that God is in charge and that I need to be more willing to let Him be.

He put in motion things in my life to allow me to be where I was tonight. He is that in charge. We talked about that tonight too and Ardeth shared a great quote by Neal A. Maxwell that eloquently taught how the Star of Bethelem was put into its precise orbit long before it shone on the night of the Saviors birth.

The Lord has things in motion for each of us...that have already been put in motion long ago so that people and experiences could be ours at the precise moments we need them. I can not, or rather I should not, try to change what He has set in motion. Instead, I should work to notice what He has prepared and then take advantage of every bit of it for my personal growth & development.

I came home tonight with my mind and heart flooded with impressions of where I'm at right now in my life...what I need to be doing...what the Lord wants for me...what He's willing to give me if I but ask...Intrigued still by that quote, I went on a search and found this great BYU fireside by Elder Maxwell (and according to the 1991 date, I would have heard it live).

Listen to this (emphasis added): "Given the tremendous importance of these [Christlike attributes we all need to develop] virtues now and in the world to come, should we be surprised if, to hasten the process, the Lord gives us, individually, the relevant and necessary clinical experiences? We do not usually seek these, however. Yet they seem to come, don't they, even when we do not remember having signed up for a particular course? Sometimes we find ourselves enrolled again in the same course. Apparently we were only auditing before; perhaps this time it can be for credit!

Emerson pleaded, "Give me truths: for I am weary of the surfaces". While amid so much that is inane, and while surrounded by so many little and superficial things, it is only in the bright light of the restored gospel that we can see the truth as to who we really are and what our possibilities are! As Jacob wrote, we not only see things as they really are, but as they really will be (see Jacob 4:13). [Incidentally, this is one of my favorite scriptures that I quote most often.]

The Lord loves each of us too much to merely let us go on being what we now are, for he knows what we have the possibility to become! "

WOW.
Read that again.

So, what does all this mean?
I'm taking some time to pay attention to these stirrings inside. I am a believer that there are turning points, or corners (thus, the name of this blog), in our lives. When we approach them, we can choose to stand still, walk the other way, or go around them.
I can tell I'm approaching one.
And I need to go around it.
I WANT to go around it.

So, I hope you'll forgive me if I stay away from posting for a little while (though, you know me, it likely won't last long). But, I have a feeling this is a class that, in addition to not signing up for, needs to be between me and Him for now.

While I'm gone, think about a few things in your own life:
1.) What "stars" (people, experiences, etc.) were put in orbit long before now so that they would be in your life right now? Don't discount what the Lord has put in motion for you. And then ask yourself "Why".
2.) Does the Lord also love YOU enough to not "merely let you go on being what you are now"? Of course He does. So, since that is true, what does He want for YOU right now? Who is He ready to help you be?

It's time to turn a corner...
And there are a lot of great things waiting around corners.
I'm sure of that.