It has been a long time since I posted. I can not promise that will change. If I thought life was busy before, I was wrong. Life for the Craiker family in 2016 is the busiest it has ever been. You may be wondering why. It is a combination of things. A new job (me), taking another Bar Exam (Anthony), a middle schooler (Bella), a new student (me), one child in a play, taking piano, in math club, in Harry Potter club and starting Robotic team (Natalie), and one starting golf and just generally wanting to be entertained (Ethan). Are you tired yet? I am. Life is busy but, life is good. And, I am learning things along the way.

On the first day of school this year I began a part time job. It is a blessing. I had realized I that with the kids all in school I had a good amount of time that I could use to contribute to the family in a financial way. I wasn’t sure if I would find a job that would meet my criteria (I only wanted to work while the kids were in school) but, I decided to make a go at searching for one knowing I never had to accept a job offered. One week before school started everything fell into place and I began a job working 9:30 am – 2:30 pm Monday through Thursdays with some flexibility to that schedule. I will work in the summers, but remember that flexibility?

Now that I have been working for four months I decided obviously, I had a few hours left in my week to fill – why don’t I use them to go back to school? Makes sense right? An opportunity arose for me to go back to school at an amazing price, mostly online and at my own pace/time. It was an opportunity too good to pass up. This program is through my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and through BYU-Idaho. This year I take one general studies course and one religion course for a total of three semesters. In January, I will get to decide just what I take and what I want to major in. I have no idea at this point what that will be.

We are currently in the fourth week of this program. So far there has been an overriding theme to me in both my religion and my general studies course. It is that of preparation. More specifically the idea that the Lord provides ways for things to be accomplished that come from righteous inspiration or desires. This is seen over and over in the Book of Mormon in the story of the prophet Nephi and his family. In my studies this week, I came to the conclusion that it was the lesson of Nephi. Reading it in the scriptures has helped me to recognize the principle but seeing it come alive in my life has helped me to understand it.

Just a few recent examples of this in my life are:

• Finding my job. I looked for over a month with little to no response. I had been praying to re-confirm this was what was best for our family and to find something that worked for our family. In one weeks time, I went from giving up the idea of starting a job when the kids started school to having found a job that was during the hours I wanted to work, required no weekends, still give me one day a week to complete household tasks and began on the exact date I desired. It was an answer to my prayers.
• The Pathway program becoming available in Orlando. Over a year ago Anthony and I had a conversation about the idea of me going back to school. I never thought it would actually happen because I never saw it being within our reach both with my time and financially. This program solves both of these issues for us.
• Making my time seem like more. Adding something else to an already packed schedule took a leap of faith. The amazing thing that has happened is that I actually feel like I have more time. I have become more organized and more productive with my time. I have found time to serve others more and even spend time with friends and family because I don’t take for granted any of my time.

The Lord provides and prepares a way for us to accomplish that which He would have us do. It doesn’t mean we wait on Him to do it all, we work and we prepare but He provides.