A look at the past to realize blessings.

I have been reading my missionary journal. While the first part was written on my mission the rest of the journal contains entries by my wife and me. I will scan this portion of the journal in this year and make it available to those who request it. 

One of the insights that I gained while reading it was that things don’t go the way we plan for a reason. 

When we, and it was mostly I, decided to go to Lander to practice we went up to find a place to live and to find an office where I could set up my practice. 

We found a house. It was a place where we could raise our family. This is the home we lived in for years. I found a house for my office for sale right across the street from the hospital. The layout was perfect and the only problem was that it was not zoned for medical. It was zoned residential. I put in a request to change the zoning to medical and was turned down. One of the members of the zoning board was Dr. Wilmoth. He voted against it. I had to look for another place to set up my office. 

Dr. Quinton Harris was doing his residency in internal medicine at the time at the old county hospital and in a conversation with him he said to get a space close to the post office. He had been in private practice in Rexburg, Idaho before he returned for specialty training. He was the doctor who took care of my mother and later was the chairman of the church medical services committee and was responsible for us serving our missions. 

Since I could not have my office across from the hospital, I arranged to rent space in the same building next to the State Farm office of Joe Scott across the street from the post office on Lincoln Street.

I had no idea that I would be drafted into the Navy after being in practice for less than a year. I had tried to enlist after my internship and was turned down.

I had house payments to make and also car payments in addition to the $10,000 loan that I had borrowed from the bank to make the down payment on the house and get the medical equipment to open my practice. The Lord knew what was going to happen in my life and knew that I would be strapped financially if I had to make mortgage payments on an empty office while I was serving for two years in the Navy.  The banker was kind and told me that I would not have to make any payments while I was gone and they would not charge me any interest. 

We can’t always know what lies in the future. The Lord knows and will open the way if we will put our trust in him. This was the case for me. I did eventually get a different house across the street from the hospital, which I remodeled to work for an office, and then built the building later on my father’s lot. 

“Trust in the Lord with all thy heart and lean not on thy own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and he will lead you a right.” 

I now know why I didn’t get the house across the street from the hospital at that time. I am only sorry that it took me so long to realize what a blessing that was. 

Love,

Grandpa