"I have obtained a land of promise"

1 Nephi: 5:5

One of my favorite questions to ask myself is this: "You believe in Christ. But do you believe that He and Heavenly Father will do the things they have promised they will do?" This question keeps me inline with where I want to be spiritually.

My husbands most quoted saying is: "Good things are SUPPOSED to happen."

In the summer of 2010, I got pregnant.  It was a surprise, but Deland and I were thrilled!  However, somewhere between 10-12 weeks I woke up in the middle of the night with terrible pain. (I felt like I was in labor.) Over the course of two weeks I experienced a miscarriage.  One week later, my little family (Deland, Addy (3) and Joseph (2)) and I moved in with my parents. (We had just begun our carpet cleaning business and to be responsible, we needed to downsize.)  I was devastated.  When I think of that time, I still get emotional. They were some the the darkest days of my entire life.

We lived with my parents for 5 months. During that time I heard several talks by different members of our church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or Mormons) in which they asked some form of the above question.  It had a big impact upon me.  Did I really believe Christ would do the things he said he would do??? I thought he PROBABLY would, but I wasn't sure. I had seen him work miracles in the lives of others...but me?  Little ol' me?!

So I began to reflect on how I prayed.  I realized that I wasn't very specific in my prayers and sometimes I felt selfish if I was praying for something big or something really wonderful. I didn't want to take up too much of His time.  After all, there are much bigger problems in the world than me living with my parents!

As if we didn't have enough going on, Deland and I began to feel like we should try to have another baby. I remember crying and saying, "Lord, how could you ask us to have another baby NOW?! It's too much!"

The Lord was trying to change my heart.  I could feel it.  (It was PAINFUL, y'all.) Living with my parents as an adult with my own family is honestly one of the hardest things I've ever done. Ever. The whole time I prayed, "Lord, please teach us what we are supposed to learn from this experience as fast as possible so we can move onto the next lesson. PLEASE." As time went on I was learning to rely of the Lord more (which is good), but I was fed up. So was Deland. I remember saying to him, "Something has to give.  Either we move out, or they move out.  And IT'S THEIR HOUSE, so I guess WE have to move out!"  (Haha.  I can laugh about it now!)

Shortly after that conversation I felt the Holy Ghost began to work inside of me.  Here is the basic idea of our "conversation." (Maybe you've been though something like this too?)

Holy Ghost: "You need to take this to the Lord in prayer. He will help you."
Me: "But how?!!! We have this brand new carpet cleaning business and it's not making enough for us to live on!  How could we possibly move out?!?!?!
Holy Ghost: "You don't have to have the answer before hand. Let the Lord work it out.  But you need to ask. He WANTS to bless you. But you have to ASK."
Me: "Fine! I'll do it!" (Sound like a bratty teenager?  Yeah.  I felt a little like Veruca Salt from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. But I was curious. Would he really answer our prayers?  We needed a miracle. Straight up!)

Malachi 3:10 kept coming to my mind: ..."and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."  It kinda sounds like a challenge, doesn't it?  "Don't believe me?  Test me!  I'll prove to you that when you do what I say, I'll pour out blessings.  So many, you won't have room for all the blessings!"

That was it. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.  

I was/am not perfect. (Far from it!) But I do my best to live the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I serve him and I want to follow his plan for me.  I knew I had every reason to believe the Lord would bless us.  Our desires were good and righteous. (We didn't ask for a million dollars to go on vacation. We wanted to independently provide for ourselves as a family.) 

So I took my heavy heart to the Lord.  The second I began to pray, all the bratty teenager attitude (Veruca Salt) melted away and I began to sob.  I was desperate for our circumstance to change. We needed to move out ASAP.  I honestly didn't know how we could stay in my parents house ANY longer.  And have a third baby????  *sigh*  I was so overwhelmed.

I felt the Holy Ghost say, "How long can you stay at your parents?" I thought, "Six weeks. TOPS! Not a minute more!"  Somewhere during this prayer I told the Lord we would be glad (and thankful) to have another baby. We were willing to take the leap of faith. But we needed him to provide some things in return. A series of miracles.  I was specific. I was bold. (VERY BOLD.)  I remember saying, "You said you would pour out blessings upon us if we do what you ask.  Well, we are ready. We are ready for every blessing you've ever offered.  We are calling for our blessing to come NOW."

And I felt it was exactly what the Lord had been trying to teach me to do. I was FINALLY learning the lesson this whole experience was set up for me to learn! (And it ONLY took 5 months. *sigh*  I've never been a quick learner.)

 I gave the Lord a laundry list of things we needed.  Some of them were:
*A house of our own.
*Stay in the same ward/congregation boundaries.
*Making as much money as we made before we started the carpet cleaning business.
*Ample money to pay down debt.
*A healthy pregnancy.

After giving the Lord my list, a calm feeling came over me. I knew the Lord would grant us these blessings. Just as sure as the sun shines and healthy grass is green, I knew the Lord would make it happen. I began to sob again.  This time with gratitude. My heart began to lift and light seemed to shine where it had been dark for nearly 5 months.  I began to thank the Lord for the things I was praying to receive.  Even though they hadn't happened yet, I wanted Him to know I really did know he would grant these things to us. We were willing to do what he asked, and He would follow through with the blessings he had promised. I was excited, but most of all humbled.  That He would hear the prayer of little ol' me!  Veruca Salt attitude and all.  :)

I began looking for houses to rent the very next morning.

Often I would think, "But how can this really happen?!" And the Holy Ghost would say, "It doesn't matter HOW. Do you believe Christ?" And I would think, "Yep. Sorry!  I"ll leave it to Him."  :)

And don't you know, by the end of week SIX these are the miracles that had already taken place.
*We rented and moved into our own home. (It was small, but it was OURS!)
*It was in our ward/congregation boundaries.
*Deland had been hired buy a disaster clean-up company to expand their carpet cleaning division.
*Deland made more money than we ever had before, which enabled us to pay down debt.
*We were pregnant with Oliver. (Everything went perfectly and he is healthy!)

I was surprised...and not surprised...all at the same time! We felt overwhelmingly blessed.  The Lord had heard our pleading.  Our first night in the new home, we prayed a very special prayer of thanksgiving. We marveled everyday for months about the miracle we were living! (I'm still in awe!)

Time Out for Women speaker Laurel Christensen Day gave a talk in 2012 where she quotes 1 Nephi 5:5 when Lehi tells his wife Sariah, "I have (present tense) obtained a land of promise." But Lehi and his family had not yet arrived in the land the Lord promised to them.  They STILL needed to cross more dessert, build a boat, cross the ocean and THEN reach ancient America!  But to Lehi, he felt ownership over this blessing because he KNEW the Lord was going to follow through.  He believed IN Christ.  But he also believed Christ would fulfill his promises.  Lehi knew the land of promise was already his, because he would do whatever it took for follow the Savior.

I know that Lehi's experience is not exclusive.  There are many other stories in the scriptures and in everyday lives that are similar. All of these stories/experiences point to the glory and majesty of our Father in Heaven.

I learned several things during those 5 months living in my parents home.  But my favorite lessons are:
1) The Lord rejoices when we are specific in our prayers.  Its easy to see that he has heard our pleading, for there is usually no other way these blessings/miracles would come about! Being specific in our prayers makes it easy to see our Saviors power and majesty.
2) The Lord DESIRES us to come boldly before him and "test" his promises.  He is ready and willing to grant unto us our needs/desires.  But we must first ask.
3) I can trust that the Lord will hear my prayers and answer them.
4) Praise and thank Him even before the blessing/miracle has happened.  It builds my confidence in Christ and in my ability to follow Him.

I will also add, "where much is given, mush is required."  A week or two before we moved into our own home Deland was called to the High Council in the Orlando Stake.  When I was 12 weeks pregnant with Oliver, I was called to be Primary President in our Ward.  The Lord asked us to do a little more in his kingdom after showering us with blessings.  But we could not have been more happy to serve Him.  More than ever, we felt/feel that Christ is on our team and we want to serve him.  (The return rate on investing in our Savior is THROUGH THE ROOF!)   :)

Now, with 2014 just beginning we are again praying for miracles in our lives.  One of our business goals is to DOUBLE the amount of money we earn each month in 2014 than we did in 2013. Then double each year for the next 5 years.  Its a tall order.  One we are willing to sacrifice to achieve.  Along with applying the business/personal principles we have learned over the past 7.5 years, we also plan to fast every Sunday for our goal to be accomplished. All while we are giving Heavenly Father praise and glory for the blessings that await us.  We know he will help us meet our goals.  We want to serve him and financial freedom will allow us to do that full-time in the future.  He has every reason to grant us the blessing we are requesting. After all - good things are supposed to happen. :)

In our hearts, we have already obtained "our" land of promise.  We are deeply thankful.

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