Updates, Big News?

Life is a funny. Once again it has been a few weeks since I have updated the blog. No excuses, just lazy. Fran has finished up her tenure at Mynderse Academy and is now back in Albany with me. It has been wonderful. I missed her terribly during the last year when she has been working in Seneca Falls, and I was only able to see her on the weekends. Being married and living apart from one another just doesn’t make sense. It is lonely, stressful, difficult and just not the way things were meant to be. That being said, I love having her home with me.

I finished all of my coursework for my master’s degree and am now working full-time in the lab I have been in since May. There will be some updates as to this job soon, but I’m not at liberty to talk about them on a public forum just yet! I am still waiting to hear back from a handful of medical schools and that will determine what happens in the next few months. I really like my job and that makes life pretty nice for us. We are getting back into the Albany Ward and will no longer be LDS-Nomads. That will be nice as well.

I have been thinking a lot the last few days about how blessed our lives our. Amidst a severe economic downturn, I have a job, and we have enough for our needs. There are many good, hard-working people in the United States who cannot say the same thing. I find myself, very selfishly at times, wishing that everything I wanted would happen right at this instant…that I would get into the medical school that I want right away, that I would receive answers to my prayers with minimal effort, that my friends and family would not have to suffer some of the trials and disappointment that they face. I took a few minutes this morning while I was at work to read a few passages of the Doctrine and Covenants. (For those of you who are not members of the LDS faith, it is another book of scripture containing revelations that were given and recorded during the early days of the Mormon Church.) I looked through my missionary journal yesterday (Fran and I were both sick and had to stay home from church) and was reminded of the fourth section of the Doctrine and Covenants. Verse 4 reads, “For behold the field is white already to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul;” We always associate this scripture with missionary work, but its meaning is applicable to all of us at all times. The field IS white. The Lord desires to bless us with what we desire and need, but it comes at a price. The price of the harvest is none other than our own will that we lay at the feet of the Master. When our will is swallowed up in His, and when we work hard, do all that we can, pray with real intent and a pure heart, then can the Lord bless us. Then and only then can we truly be comforted, see His hand in our lives, understand that His plan for us may lie along a different path than that which we had envisioned. For all of you that will read this little blog entry, know that Fran and I care deeply about our friends and family, and that you are never far from our thoughts and prayers. Remember the lessons that have been so painfully imprinted on my own soul…that nothing worth getting, is easy to obtain. Whether it is answers to prayers, forgiveness, or relief for a troubled soul, you must be willing to do what it takes to receive those blessings.

Well, that turned into a little more than I though it would, but I knew if I put this next sentence at the beginning of the blog that no one would care about the rest of the entry! FRAN is PREGNANT!!!!!!! We are super excited!! She is due on July 24 and so far everything has been progressing beautifully. We have known since a few days before Thanksgiving, but wanted to wait awhile before we told everybody. Feel free to shower advice on us and if you have hints for Fran in dealing with some of the fun effects of pregnancy that would be great too! (Fun was sarcastic)

Well, thanks for reading. We’ll keep everybody updated about how things are going, and get some new pictures up soon.

FYI...my kid is going to be as cool as these babies in this commercial...and yes, he'll have golden pipes.