Anger, Bitterness, And Resentment

Faith is acting on what you are inspired to do even when you don’t know how you are going to do it. Suddenly we had feelings of distrust toward each other. Things got so bad that Joe and I separated. I moved to Cedar City with the kids, six hours away, and Joe stayed in Vernal and looked for work there. This all sounds like it was really bad, and in some ways, it was. But it was also through this time that everything got better and the inspiration came to start my business. It took me a couple of months to find work. While I was in Cedar City figuring out how to support my family on my own, I made the decision to go back to school and work on getting my degree. I don’t think I would have ever gone back to school if I hadn’t lost my job. Going back to school has been a huge blessing to me. At the same time, Joe and I started to work on healing our relationship. We started praying together over Skype and learned how to forgive each other and really connect.

Don't Let It Break Your Heart

It was through this process that our relationship went from good to fantastic. After six months of living apart, I moved back up to Vernal with the kids, which meant another round of trying to find a job. Through going back to school, I was able to start teaching music at the elementary school here. I adored my students and couldn’t wait to go to work each day. However, it still didn’t feel like it was enough. There was something more for me and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Right after I moved back to Vernal, I went to a couple of seminars to start figuring out what I wanted to do with my life. I prayed about how to move on and support our family in a way that would be meaningful. I wanted to make a difference in the world and help people. One day after I had been praying, I got the inspiration to create a women’s conference. We would have great speakers and musical numbers to uplift and support the women in Vernal. Our area had just gone through a huge economic crash during which thousands of people lost their jobs.

Another Part Of Me

When the wife and mother of the home suffers with depression, the whole home suffers. So I created the Joyful Living Women’s Conference to uplift the wives and mothers of the home and by doing so, uplift the whole family. When I made the choice to move forward with that inspiration, it almost took on a life of its own. Every time I would receive inspiration to do something for the event, and actually followed through with it, everything just worked out. I learned the value of acting on that guidance. The event turned out to be a huge success. We had great attendance, people loved it, and I was able to help support my family. The Joyful Living Women’s Conference is now expanding out of our little town to big cities where it is receiving wonderful support. There were many lessons I had to learn to move from those dark days with my first husband to experiencing the joy that I have in my life now. I have looked up to many people throughout my life who have had a certain quality about them. I started to notice them first back in my days of despair in the trailer park. The people who were most in tune with who they were and with the inspiration coming to them had sort of a shiny glow around them.

Can't Keep This From You

It was something I could see and feel. I knew I wanted to have that glow and to be a person who was helping others by my own example. My life was changed when I learned how to open the door of inspiration and guidance from a loving Heavenly Father who knows everything I need to become my best self and help those around me. I named my company Shine Events, because the greatest joys in my life have come from my desire to become a light in the darkness for others. The first thing that I learned was to forgive. First, I needed to forgive myself for my mistakes. Then I needed to forgive those I felt had harmed me. If I could honestly, in my heart, say that I was grateful for learning from that situation and not feel the need to talk about it anymore, then I knew I had forgiven them. When we hold onto hate, anger, bitterness, and resentment, we are not harming the person we feel has wronged us! Forgiving people, especially ourselves, can be difficult at times. A few techniques have helped me release these negative feelings when they occasionally come up. The first one is exercise. I’m not saying that you have to go out and run for 10 miles in order to forgive someone. I’m saying that moving your body in any way that you find enjoyable for about 20 minutes releases endorphins and physically helps you release that pain. It’s as though the good things flowing through your body are helping to push out the bad. He loves all of His children regardless of their struggles. When you can start to see them with that love, you can start the path to forgiveness. Forgiveness does not mean that you allow that person to repeatedly harm you. You can have boundaries of safety and still forgive that person all at the same time. Forgiveness is about having peace in your heart. The last key toward opening your heart for inspiration and guidance is to live and move forward in faith. So what does having faith look like? Sometimes it is easier for me to say what faith is not. Faith is not having a scarcity mindset that there won’t be enough love, money, or jobs.