Blessings

Last fall I read Dave Ramsey's "Total Money Makeover." In the past, I have had the thought "Wouldn't it be nice to be totally out of debt? To have a house paid for like the prophets have continually counseled?" But I never really believed it could be. After all, we have TWO mortgages we're paying, thanks to the setbacks in the housing market here in Vegas and across the country, not to mention the school loans and the financial stresses of a growing family. But now that has all changed. I DO believe we can get out of debt, and for the last 6 months we have started working towards that goal. It is going to take years, and in the beginning I was feeling VERY impatient (I still am, at times). I can see the end, and I want it NOW. Funny, how we can be very much like little kids. We think that as grown ups we are pretty patient, but there is no doubt that we can be every bit as whiny and stomp our feet in our own adult ways. I read an excellent talk by Elder Uchtdorf on patience last fall that was exactly the message I needed.

In Doctrine and Covenants 104: 78-80, 82, the Lord speaks to Joseph Smith about his debts and the debts of the Church. It is a powerful passage, another message I got at just the right time:
"And again, verily I say unto you concerning your debts -- behold it is my will that you shall pay all your debts. And it is my will that you shall humble yourselves before me, and obtain this blessing by your diligence and humility and the prayer of faith. And inasmuch as you are diligent and humble and exercise the prayer of faith, behold, I will soften the hearts of those to whom you are in debt, until I shall send means unto you for your deliverance. And inasmuch as ye are humble and faithful and call upon my name, behold, I will give you the victory."

As I look over the last six months of our efforts, I have a grateful, humble heart to see the Lord's hand in blessing us. I won't go into detail over the many, many events that have magnified our ability to make progress against our debts, but one of the greatest blessings has been the ability to SEE His hand and to feel the closeness that is the result of calling upon the Lord and drawing ourselves to Him through sacrifice and an effort to be more diligent in those things that will qualify us for blessings. It is a wonderful process spiritually.

Last month on a quick stopover at my parents house, I had a conversation with my dad about our progress. He made a point that really stayed with me : that the Lord wants to bless us, not only with our needs, but also with our wants. One of the things I have long wanted is to be able to have our girls take piano lessons. We have a piano that was given to us several years ago, but the sound board is cracked and would not hold a proper tune. My thought has been to get a piano that would be good enough for piano lessons and practice once we had made enough progress against our debt, but I have also been painfully aware of the time lost as the girls get older. This week, the Lord filled that desire above and beyond anything I had hoped for. We stumbled upon a piano at an estate sale for a price just outside the budget given us, but we think quite a bit under its actual worth (which we don't know yet). The proprieter at the sale lowered the price for me enough to fit our budget, including sales tax. The piano is beautiful, a Krakauer Bros piano built in 1929 and in excellent condition. The woman who owned it bought it in 1945, presumably the second owner, and has had it ever since. She had it moved from New York, where she lived and where the piano was built, about 20 years ago. Joe, who is currently the only piano player in the family, is pretty pleased with it, I think. :)