Of Hospitals, Weddings, and Jobs

This story begins and ends at a hospital.

Our family has just completed one of our most memorable and amazing summers ever. Truly epic.

The excitement began in late July. McKenzie, our oldest daughter, began complaining of severe stomach pains. This continued off and on for a week, until it was clear we needed to get her to the hospital right away.

They quickly determined that she needed to have her gall bladder removed. Since graduating from college in April, she had been trying to find a job and had just barely (one week earlier) found a good one right here in American Fork. She was understandably concerned that the job she had tried so hard to find would now be taken from her. Several prayers and priesthood blessings gave her the assurance that God knew who she was and what she needed.

On the day after Pioneer Day, she had the surgery and it went very well. One of the worst parts of the experience was her inability to eat. She went over a week without being able to keep anything down. Even after she was admitted to the hospital she had to wait for four days before she could have anything besides fluids. As always, she was a trooper. We saw the hand of the Lord from start to finish in this experience.

As for her job? The first set of flowers she received after her surgery were from her new company. She's already been promoted in the short time she's been there. What a blessing.

Less than two weeks after McKenzie's surgery, we were off to Reno, Nevada to witness the marriage of our oldest son Isaac to the lovely and wonderful Anna Hansen. The timing of everything was amazing. If McKenzie had her gall bladder attack a week later, we may have had to postpone the wedding. It would have also been very difficult for her to endure the long trip to and from Reno. But the Lord was merciful, and our trip went without a hitch.

Everything about the wedding was absolutely wonderful. To watch our son marry his best friend in a sacred place was an eternally significant event. The wedding reception put on by Anna's family was perfect. Wonderful food. Lots of loving family and friends to support the new couple.

A week later we held an open house for the newlyweds at the home of our friends, Liz and Dave Macdonald. Ginger had put in countless hours of planning to make it all work. Many wonderful friends and family members provided us with many acts of "second-mile service" to make the evening possible, and the results were truly magical. For all those that supported us in any way through this exciting but strenuous week, thank you.

On the Monday after the wedding, I was informed by my employer that I was being laid off along with a number of other employees. This wasn't a great surprise, although it still came as a blow. On our way back from Reno we had an inkling that this was going to happen. Ginger and I counseled about it and both of us felt that we were supposed to "stay the course." We weren't 100% clear on what that meant, but felt confident that we were in the hands of the Lord.

About two weeks after I lost my job I applied for a position with Intermountain Healthcare in Heber, a beautiful little city on the backside of the Wasatch mountains. The job would combine several areas of expertise and would involve helping the hospital to establish a new addiction-recovery unit called Dayspring.

On Thursday, August 30th, I had an interview for the position. I was surprised and thrilled to receive an offer to accept the position the following Tuesday. One of the many exciting parts of this job is the fact that I will still be able to work from home. This was a wonderful answer to prayer! Interestingly, I didn't receive a single call-back on any of the many other jobs that I applied for. Not a single interview. Nothing.

We can confirm that we are in the hands of the Lord. Again we have been the recipients of His tender mercies.