Doing What We're Supposed To Do

Today in Sunday School, we were talking about some of the revelation that we've been given in recent years (meaning the last few decades), and how we've been blessed by it.  Someone mentioned how President Hinckley told us to prepare for hard times ahead.  We were encouraged to get our finances in order, have a reserve, and get our food storage together. It made me think about my own food storage and financial reserve.  I have been good at it.  We have sacrificed to put extra money into savings and to pay down our mortgage.  We have a full year's supply of food.  Have I been blessed by it?  Well, I haven't had to use it, so it could be argued that it hasn't done anything for us.  I wondered; if Aaron is never out of a job, and if we never end up needing to eat any our food storage, would I someday look back on all the money that could have been spent on something else, and all the storage space that could have been used for other things, and regret it?

No.  Not at all.  There are blessings for doing what the Lord wants us to do.  Maybe there are other blessings for obeying this law than having a financial reserve and a food storage to draw upon when we need it.

When Aaron was considering going to MBA school, we felt very strongly that the Lord wanted him to apply.  So strongly, that when the time came to give the University of MN notice of acceptance or denial, we were ready to take a leap of faith, when it was very clear we could not live on our savings plus financial aid, and that we would be ruining our finances for no guarantee that there would be a good ROI.  We knew that the Lord would make it work out if it was supposed to.  But, as much as he wanted to go, Aaron wasn't feeling right about it.

Going to MBA school was something we had prayed about, and it was worth doing if the Lord wanted us to do it, right?  Well, yes.  I let Aaron know that I was willing to go by faith, but that I felt like this one was his decision if he decided not to go (I was not going to tell him not to go and have that hanging over my head).  He prayed about it, and came out with a no.  He said that he had a hard time understanding how a "yes" a year ago could be a "no" now.  But, he had some thoughts.

There were some things we learned during the process.  Aaron pointed out that when he first thought about MBA school, he felt right about taking the GMAT, so he studied for it and took it.  He refreshed some math and logical thinking skills, and had a big confidence boost with his great test score.    

Then, he felt really right about applying to BYU.  After a few weeks, he felt like he also ought to apply to Carlson.  After interviewing at BYU, he learned that he would not be happy in their MBA program.  It wasn't right for him (they agreed, and didn't accept him).  He found out that he would really like the U of MN MBA program.  It had some really fun things he would experience, and he felt he would learn a lot.  But he also had time to find out from other people that his salary is about the same as a lot of people who got an MBA 10 years ago.  If he changed industries, which is the main reason he was going for his MBA, he would probably take a severe salary cut when he got his first job, and not make it up until well after our older children had started college.  He would have lost years of time with our children - really important years for all of them, but especially for the older boys. 

What did we learn from this experience?  We learned that sometimes the Lord blesses us in other ways than the ways we were anticipating.  Aaron wasn't supposed to go to MBA school this year, but we went through the preparation process to gain knowledge we wouldn't have gained otherwise.  We may not even know all of the reasons yet (he does take the FSOT next month, and who knows how his test preparation last year might affect that outcome).  Even if we never need the food storage or the emergency savings account, we will always have the peace of mind that comes because we have it, and whatever other blessings the Lord has in store for us just for being obedient.