Ch ch ch changes

One thing about living in this area is the constant flux of people in our lives. So many people move to this area for 1-4 years for school, job assignments, etc. We have made so many really awesome friends this way, but it's always really hard when it's time to say goodbye to those friends. This week we're loosing one of the little boys that has been doing preschool with us, and his mom and I have been good friends, and I'm really going to miss her, and her sweet little boy at preschool. 

This is kind of a shift of topic, but their move was pretty sudden, and it's had me thinking about the big changes and moves that have occurred in my life, and how often they are unexpected and sudden.

I remember when I was a young teenager we lived in a tiny town in Northern Utah, and it was one of those places where people lived for generations. I was definitely in the minority not having been born there, and having grandparents and great grandparents there. And I remember being literally terrified that I would never find a way to pay for college, and I would have to get a job there, and then I'd end up getting married to someone who worked at a factory there, and we'd live there forever. I remember praying fervently "PLEASE let me not have to live here forever, and please let me be able to travel when I grow up."

Now looking back I laugh a little at just how terrified I was, and it probably doesn't sound all that horrific. But to me at the time it seemed like the worst thing that could ever happen, and having never been on an airplane, and having only even visited 3 states in my life, the possibility of never going anywhere and being stuck there seemed very real to me. 

As I look back on my life from that point, I see that Heavenly Father did care about the prayers of that little girl, and he really has blessed me with lots of opportunities to travel and live in lots of different places. I have often gotten frustrated at my inability to plan my life, because of all the big changes that happen that completely "mess up" my plans. But looking back, I realize that I never could have planned a life as good as the one I have, and that each of those big changes have in the end been good, and led to something great. I guess this is kind of a sappy post, but I'm just feeling grateful today for an Almighty hand that guides my life, and the knowledge that he is there through the changes, and through the times when there aren't changes, when I think there should be, and I feel so grateful for the paths my life has taken, and all the dear good friends I've made along the way.