Jumping with both feet into life

I recently discovered that for my husband and I, we have mainly one approach to our lives.  It seems we just simply jump with both feet. There is no tiptoeing and no waltzing -- we jump.  Sometimes a small jump, but more often than not it's a huge jump.  When we contemplated building a house, others would comment on the work or stress involved, but we are plowing forward. We evaluated whether to build, buy, or renovate.  We looked at different cities to find a place to call home.  And then as we sat in church one Sunday, we both knew exactly what we should do, and after church as we walked around the vacant lots and to the nearby lake, we felt peace, we felt at home, we felt this is where we were to go.

Over 22 years ago, my friends and I attended a LDS sorority/fraternity dance at the University of Utah.  We had a great time hanging out and dancing in a large group.  Little did I know that I had caught someone's eye and that I was being watched. Not until the end of the dance did this handsome someone approach me and ask me to dance.  Three songs later, the dance ended and I had a date for the next weekend with a young man who quickly became my best friend and a short time later became my eternal companion.  Ray may have tiptoed that first night to approach me, but I believe he knew from the moment he saw me that I was meant for him. No tiptoeing after that. We jumped with both feet into our relationship--met in April, engaged in June, married in September.  That jump changed my life. Going on a mission was postponed.  With faith, I jumped, with an enduring love and a strong friendship, hand-in-hand we keep jumping.

The moment of finding out that we were to be parents was an unexpected, but not unwanted jump.  Almost 21 years ago, I held in my arms a precious baby.  He was mine, he was ours, he was sent from God.  He was entrusted to us -- to love, to teach, to guide, to raise, to deliver back to God.  Now, serving as a missionary in Guatemala, I have entrusted him to God.  One, two, three, four children each were lovingly welcomed into our home, and then the question "God what would you have us do?"  Through a spiritual experience, we undeniably knew we would have one more boy and one more girl, and then following the birth of number six, I again was inspired to know that our family was complete.  Six children in 11 years -- that is definitely jumping in with both feet.  There is no handbook, no instruction manual, there is only faith, courage, and determination to try and be the parents that God intended for these six sweet spirits.

Over 18 years ago, we jumped out of all that was familiar. I had never been further east than Utah or Wyoming.   We piled two children into the car, our belongings into a Uhaul and with the help of Ray's parents we ventured east until we arrived near Chicago for a Administrator-in-Training program.  We have been jumping with both feet ever since.  Fear of the unknown and unfamiliar does not hold us back.  We have had drivers licenses from 7 different states, and the total number of moves is greater than that.  It has truly been an amazing, sometimes difficult, sometimes stressful journey, but ultimately a journey worth telling about and worth living.

This summer we jumped with both feet into building our dream home.  No, we haven't ever done this before, but I figure after a year of putting together this move piece by piece, problem after problem solved, plan after plan changed that we can manage this challenge and we are not going to let fear of the unknown or unfamiliar hold us back.

I am home.  I live in a friendly, small town. We have been here almost a month and I love it!  We have immediate friends and associations because we are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  For it doesn't matter where you go, there will always be a ward there for you.  I drive to the city, I drive past the rolling hills and farm land to the church 10 miles away, I drive around our small town and I feel an incredible sense of joy that I am right where I belong.

I commented to Ray that we are really good at jumping with both feet. And I said, we did when we met and look where that has got us!  And look where bringing six fabulous children into our lives has got us!  And look where moving and taking different jobs has got us!  Don't get me wrong, the challenges that have come from parenting and moving have been difficult.  There are always those moments when you worry and fear that you are not capable of handling your life's struggles.  (Well, at least for me I have had moments like that.)

But with each jump has come a leap of faith and there are those quiet moments when I felt the Spirit guiding my hand and God directing my path.  When the difficult moments arise, and fear wants to take over and control the situation, I look back to when I felt I should marry Ray, and to when we felt we should have our last two children, to the peace I felt at the lake this summer, and each time we moved in one way or another we felt clarity and inspiration.  Forward with faith, we jump with both feet into life.  Then we look back and we see how far we have come, and how God carried us through each jump when we needed help beyond what we could handle, and I am glad that we haven't tiptoed or waltzed through life. For as I have said before, I wouldn't change my life for any other life.