Going into labor

The process to get hired as a seminary teacher takes about a year and a half, not 9 months like a pregnancy, but we've noticed some shocking similarities between the two. Just like your body works overtime when you're pregnant, Richie worked extra hard trying to improve his teaching skills and we worked extra hard as a family to become the type of people the church would want to hire. Our nerves have been stretched to their limit not knowing if all this effort would result in an actual job. I feel like all our nervous energy has been bloated to it's full extent, also like a prego belly, yes?

We were told April 12th was the soonest we would know. Our due date, if you will. Thursday came and went without any news whatsoever. We were officially over-due and that means that we were then allowed to get REALLY anxious and start complaining. Just like that last little bit in a pregnancy, sleeping got really difficult, we were all more on edge, we felt like we couldn't breathe, etc etc etc. This morning Richie called me and told me that the area directors wanted to meet with not just him, but all of us in one hour down in Rigby. This is where I imagined it like we were going into labor. All of a sudden, this moment you've been waiting for for an eternity is set in motion, and then you're not sure if you want it to happen! It's a little scary, it might hurt and you're probably going to cry. I rushed around like a chicken without a head and got ready, got the kids in the car, sped subconsciously, got my hands to stop shaking and met a pacing Richie outside the seminary building. We met with the two area directors in a room, and they got it over with nice and quick, like a band-aid. They talked mostly to Miles and then asked him to tell us "Congratulations"! We got hired!! I'm pretty sure if there are any sudden gusts of wind in your area today, it's us breathing sighs of relief. Seriously, all day I've been walking around deflating. At least that's what it feels like. We plan on going to get some ice cream as a family tonight to celebrate. The directors also told Richie that he'd better take me out for diner, or else. I think I'll hold him to that.

We don't know where we will be placed except that it won't be in Eastern Idaho, which is kind of a bittersweet situation. We'll find out by mid-May where we'll need to move to. We're not sure how many got hired, but they did tell us that we were on the top of the list and some of the first to find out. The past few hires, maybe 8 out of 80 get hired, and they told us that they weren't able to hire as many as they had anticipated this time around, so we feel especially lucky. What a huge faith building experience this has been. Holy Cow. I'm so proud of my man! Wanna know a secret? I had this awesome seminary teacher in high school, who was a good lookin guy. I never had an official crush on him or anything, but many times I remember thinking, "I want to marry a guy like that! I want to marry a seminary teacher!" Forget Cinderella, forget winning the lottery...our dreams came true and we are the luckiest people on earth today. Here's to the start of a major adventure!!

And just because.....