To Move or Not to Move

Mike and I have been debating for a while whether or not it was time to leave the mortuary. We've been living here for 8 years now, and it has truly been a great blessing. Being here has allowed us both to finish school, and to start our business without the additional financial stress of rent or a mortgage. Our home has been big enough to fit us all (so far...), and we have an abundant amount of space for our garden. I'll admit that the phone ringing in the middle of the night to take Mike away on calls has not been fun, especially when he gets more than one in a night, but the benefits have generally outweighed the disadvantages.

We started getting some subtle hints a few months ago that made us begin to think that maybe we ought to look at other options. Comments made, such as, "The mortuary is no longer going to hire couples with children." "How long have you been living there?" "Are you sure there's enough room in that little house for all of you?" "We need you to get rid of your cat (the one we got last summer to deal with the mice situation around here) because it may sneak into the mortuary and eat the nose and ears off of the deceased." (I'm SO NOT KIDDING about the cat comment, but I'm not going to get into it for now.)

Anyway, because our business was only started up last year, and because work has been fairly slow since Thanksgiving, we knew that a mortgage was not an option yet, but I went out looking for rentals in the area of the girls' charter school. I found a couple of decent options for us for the short-term, but began to get really frustrated that I wasn't feeling one way or the other whether or not we should in fact, move. Mike was having the same frustrations, even after praying and fasting. It seemed odd to both of us that the Lord wouldn't offer direction in what seemed like a MAJOR life decision.

The following Sunday, Mike was in the hallway between classes and the Stake President approached him, asking if he could talk with him for a minute. They went in a room and Pres. Saviano began to give him a pre-interview interview. He told him that he was not there to give him a calling, but that there were some stake callings that needed to be filled and he was just talking with people in the different wards to get a feel for who might fit well into those positions. The next Sunday, Pres. Saviano was again visiting our ward and asked Mike if he could visit with the both of us that week. We were pretty sure that the call was coming for Mike to be the Stake Athletic Director, or possibly in the Stake YM Presidency. When we got to the interview and he asked to speak with each of us individually, we knew it was definitely something different... When Pres. Saviano asked Mike to accept the call from the Lord to serve on the Stake High Council, we were both a little stunned and completely humbled. The Lord certainly answers prayers in strange ways.

Who knew that the answer to our question of whether or not to move would come in the form of a calling? We sure didn't see it coming. I think we can stick it out here at the mortuary for a couple of more years while Mike serves in this new capacity. Maybe by then we'll be ready for that mortgage.