I love my husband.
He is such a great leader to me and our family. He might not seem it to our acquaintences, but he is a very spiritual person. I knew that, and that is one of the big reasons I married him.
I have had a recent situation that has shown me how inspired he is and how we can all receive that inspiration in our personal lives.
Recently I have had a bit of a situation that required my attention. There was a change in a program I am over for church that needed to happen. This would require a meeting with some who might not be so receptive to change. I knew that the change needed to happen, and I did not doubt that, but I find it difficult to build up the courage to take on opposition.
The first step was to make a phone call. The call was not easy, the other person was quite offended and hurt by my suggestions. This was all done with the most kindness I could generate. But the other person met me with a great deal of resistance. Normally, I would have been very intimidated. I would have become flustered and emotional and probably even backed down (this is why I would have never ventured into the business world). On my own, I am very weak. But, during this phone call I knew I had the Lord behind me. This change was necessary for the good of the children in the program, all the children. So, I stuck it out through the conversation (with much divinly appointed ease) and when I hung up, my sweet husband who was at my side the entire time said that it sounded like it all went well. The fact is, however, it did not go well, the other person was very emotional, hurt and offended by my suggestions. What really struck me about my husband's comment is that I was blessed beyond belief to keep calm, kind and composed throughout this situation. It was even easy, I knew that what I was doing was right and I knew the Lord wanted this to happen. And for someone like myself, that in itself was a miracle, and I immediately recognized it as such.
Despite the difficult phone call, we were still able to set up a meeting time to work out all the details. I was very anxious for the meeting. I prayed all week for the other person, that her heart would be lifted and she would know that this was not a personal attack. I prayed that we would be able to work together amicably to keep a great program great. But I still was dreading the actual meeting.
I asked for and received a priesthood blessing the night before, and peace was returned to my heart.
That morning as my sweet husband kissed me goodbye before leaving for work - he mentioned that I should read the recent conference talk by President Eyring, "Our Hearts Knit as One". I remembered that I had been impressed by it as I listened, but couldn't remember all the details. So I took a few minutes to read over that morning. It was very thorough about the topic of Unity, then I read the following and knew that my husband had been inspired to encourage me to read that specific talk before my meeting. President Eyring said:
"Happily I am seeing more and more skillful peacemakers who calm troubled waters before harm is done. You could be one of those peacemakers, whether you are in the conflict or an observer.
One way I have seen it done is to search for anything on which we agree. To be that peacemaker, you need to have the simple faith that as children of God, with all our differences, it is likely that in a strong position we take, there will be elements of truth. The great peacemaker, the restorer of unity, is the one who finds a way to help people see the truth they share. That truth they share is always greater and more important to them than their differences. You can help yourself and others to see that common ground if you ask for help from God and then act. He will answer your prayer to help restore peace, as He has mine."
I knew what I needed to do in the meeting - find the common ground. So my prayers changed to that, asking for help to be able to recognize our common ground and bring that to the forefront.
As we sat in our meeting, my anxiety quieted, we prayed and peace was there. After going over a few details, the common ground was revealed to me and I was able to make sure that all our plans worked around that. The other person involved who had been hurt and offended seemed much softer and we really seemed to be able to come together for this program. We met on the common ground and there was peace.
I felt so relieved and so happy, I did not want to make an enemy out of this person, she has been my neighbor for years and hopefully many more to come.
There were still a few little things to work out, but the majority of the issues seemed to be dealt with on both sides. That is until one big rift came up later. The plans we had made had to be juggled around and tweaked a little bit more and I didn't know how to do that and stay on the common ground that we had found. Again, anxiety and sadness entered. Here we had found such a peaceful resolution to our problem and now that was null and void. Any solution I could come up with would take us away from our common ground.
So, I turned to this sweet lady and presented the issue and the possible solutions I could see. I told her that a decision needed to be made soon and invited her ideas. Through her faith and prayers, a solution was found that would be beneficial to everyone involved. The inspiration seemed to flow wherever it was needed throughout this process and I was so grateful to be able to see the Lord's hand guiding us to freely as we were striving to make this program work amidst necessary changes.
The Lord answered my prayers, He answered my husband's prayers and He answered the prayers of this sister, wherever the inspiration was needed and would be best received and utilized, that is where it seemed to go.
The Lord loves us dearly and is aware of the details of our lives, and will grant unto us according to our righteous desires.
My desire was to be a peacemaker, and so it was.
