Are we missing out on blessings?

On Saturday, September 27, we had the General Women's Meeting for church. It was a wonderful spiritual feast with excellent music and speakers. (I was moved by so much, it is a good thing I had a handkerchief for the tears). The concluding speaker was Dieter F. Uchtdorf from the first presidency. He shared the picture here on his Facebook page after the meeting.

His message about the wonderful blessings that surround us, that we often block out, really resonated. Many others picked that up as well and share their own interpretations of that portion of the message. This is one of those.

So, this got me thinking about blessings. Have I been showered with them, or have I put up a barrier to keep them away? President Uchtdorf says it is our fear, doubt and sin that can keep them away. I wondered if I had done that in my life?

I know that fear has driven some of my decisions in the past. I could have developed my business into something successful if I had not been afraid. I was doing the Geek Squad before Best Buy even existed. But I was too afraid of the uncertainty to rely on that. Instead, I took safer employment that offered reliable pay and benefits. I may have denied myself significant blessings by that fear. I will never know.

Sometimes, I pushed past the fear and doubt and did see the blessings as a result. I truly enjoyed working at Intel. When they decided to close the Utah office, the Pro and I had a choice. We could stay with Intel and move to either Oregon or Folsom, or we could take a chance that I would find something comparable in Utah. After a great deal of consideration, we decided to stay in Utah. A few short months later, I was working for the church which turned out to be a wonderful experience.

A couple of years after that, we again had an opportunity to stay put or take a risk. The Pro was offered the chance to return to his first big head pro job in Prescott. It was a pay cut. We loved our home and neighborhood and had a number of friends. Again, after much pondering, we made the decision. Again, we pushed past the fear of jeopardizing our security and this time we moved away.

This decision to move saw almost immediate blessings. We thought it would take time to sell the house but we were able to rent it instead within a week of the decision. Instead of me in Utah and him in Arizona, I was able to pack up the house and join him-far sooner than we had anticipated. We have had great tenants in that house; the current ones plan to purchase it next year. After we found a home in Prescott, I found a part-time job. This enabled me to help the Pro, which had always been a dream of his. The experience was lots of fun for both of us.

During the winter, I finally quit the part-time job to help the Pro full time. Then, in May, he was laid off when a management company came in to run the course. They brought their own company guy to be director. However, the Pro is on staff there teaching a few hours per week. Now comes the fear again. Do I look for another job so that I can get benefits and we don't have to live on our savings? So far, I am trying to have faith in the answer we have for now-no. Be 'retired' and continue to help him out. I have other responsibilities that take a great deal of time, so I know that for know, this is the right thing to do.

As I look back, I can see that those times when I was willing to have faith and go for something outside my comfort zone, I have truly been blessed. I cannot know what blessings I turned away by my fear and doubt, but I am now committed to try to avoid that in the future.

If I get a response to my prayers indicating that I need to do something, over the years, I have learned to follow that prompting. I have never regretted it. I know I have been blessed. I also know that it can be frightening to take that leap of faith. But it is worth it.