Why we're here...

When Justin was in his final year of dental school, we began diligently searching for where we wanted to live after he graduated. The two-edged sword of the dental profession is that there are great opportunities nearly everywhere, meaning that we could pretty much pick anywhere we wanted to live and do just fine. Which would have been great if we had known where we wanted to go, but it was really tough trying to decide when we weren't really sure where we wanted to live. We definitely did want to make sure that whatever decision we made was "the right" decision, meaning that it was where God wanted us to be, if indeed there was a specific place that he wanted us to be. After much deliberation, we ended up choosing to live in Lake Ozark, hoping that we had found a dental practice and a professional partnership that would last the next 30 years or so. We invested in a beautiful home, and settled in.

Within a matter of months, Justin realized that the practice he was in was not "the one" that he wanted to make his own. We started to doubt our decision to move to Missouri. Had we made a mistake? Didn't this seem like "the right" place for us to live? Why hadn't things worked out the way we planned? We came to Missouri for the job, and since the job wasn't "right", we assumed that Missouri wasn't "right" either. So, we started looking for a new place to live. Texas had been our home for most of our married life, so we thought that perhaps a familiar state would hold the opportunity we sought.

We found some promising practices in Texas, but we kept running into obstacles along the way. Then we discovered that there were opportunities right here in Missouri that looked appealing, and would allow us to stay in our beautiful home, and avoid the hassle of packing and moving, selling our house and finding a new place to live. Staying here certainly seemed like an easier choice, but was it "the right" choice?

Looking back over the many life changing events of my life, it always seems like, at the time, I'm stumbling around in the dark, not sure if the decisions I'm making are really the Lord's will for me, or if I'm just making educated guesses about what is best for my future. Now, as I think back over these times, it seems very obvious that the Lord definitely was guiding my decisions, even though at the time I wasn't quite sure. Such was the case with our decision to stay in Missouri. Two weeks ago, I kept thinking that it would be so nice to just stay here, but I wasn't sure if I was just being selfish, thinking about what would be most convenient for me when the Lord might really need us in a different place. Without really feeling the overwhelming "need" to move, I came to the conclusion that this might really be one of those times when we just need to decide where we want to be, and the Lord will use us wherever we are. One day, during Justin's last trip to Texas, I was driving through Lake Ozark, enjoying the beautiful day, seeing the sun reflect on the lake, and I began to feel very excited about the possibility that we might actually get to stay here! I knew that Justin was still seriously considering some practices in Texas, so I shouldn't get my hopes up, but I thought, if the decision is really up to me, and God is allowing me to choose where I really want to live, then this is where I choose! I think that was the first time I really admitted to myself that this was what I wanted.

Justin came back from Texas, looked at a couple more practices around here and decided on the practice that he is purchasing in Jefferson City and we've both felt great about the decision ever since. We went to church last Sunday, excitedly announcing to all of our friends that we would not be moving after all! Our branch president approached us before church and sincerely expressed his joy that we would be staying around, and then he asked if we could meet with him in his office.

President Adams sat us down and became very emotional as he began to tell us how for the past two months, he has felt strongly that the Lord had a calling for Justin in our branch presidency. President Adams had struggled with the prompting, not knowing how he could extend the calling when we were making plans to move to Texas. He said that the feeling would not go away, so he had finally decided that he could ignore the prompting no longer and that he would have to tell us that week that the Lord needed us to stay. Then, that Sunday, he learned that we were buying a practice in Jefferson City and would not be moving after all. As President Adams told us this story, I felt an overwhelming feeling of gratitude and relief that yes, our Father in Heaven really does have a plan for us, and that we really are making "the right" decision to stay here. All of this time we've been stumbling around without a clear picture of what was "right", and now it seems that maybe there was a reason we came to Missouri after all.

Today, Justin was sustained as the second counselor in the branch presidency. I am anticipating many crazy Sundays of unattended children while Justin sits on the stand and I play the organ, but I'm so grateful to know that...
#1: there are plenty of "brothers" and "sisters" to help watch over our crazy kids while we serve in our callings and...
#2: the Lord really does guide our decisions and this really is where he wants us to be!