As you may recall, Scotty started a new job this year. All of the events surrounding the procurement of this job were indications to us that we have a Heavenly Father who is actively involved in our lives. The job came to us after years of preparation. We can look back at things that happened ten years ago (and even longer) and see that Scotty was being prepared - we just didn’t know it.
The job was a great blessing and an answer to many prayers. It's something we never thought could happen. It came to us in May. On the day Scotty got the offer, I posted this.
In August, Scotty was "invited" to participate in our Church's new self-reliance classes (you can learn more about those here). The classes were held weekly for three months. It was a huge time commitment, and we were not thrilled to take part in it. In fact, we had both expressed when the program was announced that we hoped we wouldn't be asked to do the classes, but we both kind of saw it coming. It just seemed like something that would happen to us.
As we talked about whether to do the program, we both continually expressed how much we didn't want to be involved. It felt so poorly-timed and inconvenient, but Scotty said, "I'll do it because we have been promised that we will be blessed."
(Meanwhile, I was saying things like, "Can I get a P.O. on those blessings so I can decide if they are worth it?")
The classes cover different areas of self-reliance such as starting a business, getting an education, and managing personal finances. At the first meeting, the attendees had to commit to a topic. None of these topics were really what we needed. We both have degrees, and we know how to get more degrees should we desire to do so. We aren't going to start a business, and we've taken so many personal finance classes that if we haven't figured out our finances by now... we never will. Scotty chose the personal finance group due to the lack of anything more suitable for our needs.
The class was 12 weeks long (and with the recommended group service project - ended up being 13). Scotty had homework every week and was supposed to teach his family what he was learning. This became our Family Home Evening curriculum for the time.
I confess, we didn’t always have the best attitudes about it, but we tried. When we would catch ourselves complaining, we would try - not always with success - to remember that we had been promised we would receive blessings for participating in the classes.
While Scotty was in Paraguay in early November, he learned that a job was coming available in his department. It wasn’t exactly what we would pick for him, but he felt like he needed to apply for it. Strangely, I too felt that he needed to apply for it. The problem was, Scotty’s job was already amazing. He had the opportunity to work with the temples of our Church, and we didn’t want to give that up. The new job would take him away from the temples, which we were very sad about. Scotty put in for the new job, and our belief was that it was in the Lord's hands. If He wanted Scotty to be in this new position, we knew it would be so, but if He wanted Scotty to stay where he was, that was great, too. We turned it entirely over to God, and Scotty did what he needed to do to open the door just in case the Lord wanted to move him.
Scotty went through two rounds of interviews, and then we just sat back and waited to see what would happen. There ended up being a hold-up with HR, so the job offer was postponed for a few weeks until one day Scotty was finally called in to see the Boss Man, and the Boss Man told him they weren't going to offer him the job [pause for suspense] because they wanted to offer him a different position. The position allows Scotty to have more PTO, higher pay, and he gets to continue working with the temples.
When he called me to tell me about the offer, I stammered. "What?!? Really!?! How?!? Why!?!" because I couldn't even comprehend the beauty of this blessing. Ultimately, I don't feel like we deserve it. I mean, we murmured and stuff.
But God has given us this wonderful opportunity, and we feel that it is because we trusted in Him and made the commitment for Scotty to attend the self-reliance classes.
Now, I can't say that the self-reliance classes will immediately bring jobs for all. Oh, how I wish it would because I have so many friends and family who are struggling with unemployment or underemployment right now. But I do believe that if you are asked to participate in the self-reliance classes, and you see it through, that you too will be blessed in some way. Maybe in health or comfort or finances. Maybe in direction or opportunities or testimony.
You might go kicking and screaming (as Scotty sometimes did - with me kicking and screaming simultaneously from home as it was one more night a week I had to be alone with my kids), but if you go, participate, and meet your commitments each week, you will be blessed.
You will.
Something Scotty and I acknowledged as this program was starting up in our stake is that it's hard to not be slightly bothered by the invitation to attend. It makes you feel like something is wrong with you - like you're asked to go because someone perceives that you're not self-reliant. It's easy to say, "Why should I have to take this class?" But the self-reliance specialists in our stake made a really good point (which I heard second-hand from someone who heard them speak) - they said that whether or not you need these specific topics, this program will help you prepare to meet the Savior. I tried to keep that it mind as Scotty went through the classes. It wasn't about personal finance so much as it was about learning gospel principles that are applicable to both personal finance and preparing to meet the Savior. And that's something we can all benefit from regardless of our employment, our education, or our finances.
An invitation may come to you from your stake to participate in these classes, and I hope you will consider it (you can kick and scream - it's cool - heaven knows we did), but also know that you can participate without an invitation. You also don't have to be a member of the LDS Church - the program is open to all (but you will learn LDS principles while you are there).
If you want to get more information about the program in your area, you can email me, and I'll happily help you get in touch with the right people. Our area starts the classes again in February, and I assume many other areas will be starting around the same time.
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