Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings....

My husband and son (Speedy) went to Priesthood leadership meeting last night (for our stake).  Drew had to be there significantly early for a different meeting, held in conjunction with the stake priesthood meeting.  Anyway, the guys left at 3:30 and weren't going to be home until 8:30 at the earliest.

The kiddos who were left home and I decided that we wanted to just relax and enjoy our weekend.  We made smoothies for dinner, along with a pot of chili and the a few of the rolls I had made for the priesthood meeting.  I sat down on the couch to read a book (not one of my personal choosing, one that I am reading to help Sun with her English class, but it is still a fun read).

Spike needed attention.  I don't know what his issue was but about an hour after dinner, he came into the living room snuggled under my blanket, flew his airplane in front of my book and around my arms so that I could not read it, rolled over (about a million times), kicked me on my bruised shin, and got upset when I wasn't cooperating with his questioning.  Then, as I was finally getting the hint and climbing out of my blanket and putting my book down, his diaper leaked all over my blanket.  Lovely!

So I put him into the bathtub.  Spike does not always cooperate in the bath, so there was a little drama when I was already irritated.  But we managed to wade through that.  By 8:30, he was finally ready for bed and we read our scriptures, said our prayers, and I sent him off to have his teeth brushed and climb into bed.

About that time, Drew called to say they were on their way home.  When they arrived, Slim was with them.  What?!!  I thought you were in Utah?  What are you doing here?  (Enter Slim's friends).  He didn't answer my question for about an hour or so.  But when he finally got around to it, he told me the story.

After the truck he was catching a ride in left our home town, about 30 minutes up the road, the driver realized that he had the wrong trailer attached to his cab.  He turned around and came back.  While that was happening, Slim had the thought that the truck was turning around so that he could get off of it here at home.  Then he rationalized that he had a bunch of things lined up in Utah this week that he didn't want to miss, and coming back home didn't make any sense to him.  So when the truck got here and changed trailers, Slim just went along with it and decided to go ahead and continue his journey.  Three hours later, as he arrived at our friend's house, he had kind of come to the understanding that the Lord wanted him to be home and not on this trip.  During his ride, Slim had some insights as to why being home would be more beneficial to him instead of taking this trip to Utah.  He also decided to stay with our friend for the few days he was there, to help them with the work they had to do.  Then he was able to have one of his buddies drive out and pick him up.

After he told me the story, he looked right at me and said, "I learned a little more what it means to 'counsel with the Lord'."  And so it goes.

Many times, as we are trying to decide what we should do in any given circumstances, or what decisions we should be making, we do take the initiative to study it out in our own minds.  We decide what to do.  Then we inform the Lord what we are doing and how we are going to do it.

If we are wise in our decision making, after we have decided what we think we should do, we will ask the Lord what He would have us do.  As we participate in that process, and ask for His counsel and guidance, it is then that He can tell us what He would have us do.  He may or may not tell us the reasoning.  Slim received some specific counsel and specific guidance regarding how this trip would risk a greater vision and plan the Lord had in mind for him.  Thus, when push came to shove, Slim agreed with the Lord's ideas and thoughts about the matter.  Then he was humble enough to set aside the immediate desires of his heart for a greater plan.

I love seeing that my men are growing in the counsel and admonitions of the Lord!!  I don't always get to see that, but I am grateful Slim shared his story with us and glad that he is home from his travels, even if they didn't go according to our expectations.