guest post from Hilary Weeks

This is from Hilary Weeks.  One of my favorite church composers and/or artists.  She is also one of my favorite bloggers.  I has the fantastic experience of meeting her through my friend, Whitney, a member of the LDS singing group, Mercy River.  Through Whitney, I got to eat lunch one afternoon with Hilary and really get to know her.  I loved her before but once I got to actually visit with her, I loved her even more and felt like she was someone I could really relate to.  Since then I have been a follower of her blog.  This week she had a post that I just loved and I felt like I could have written it myself.  I, too, had an experience where I was told through a priesthood blessing that the end of a trial was approaching and to be patient.  I am so glad at the time that I didn't know it was going to be another FIVE years before we would find an end to our ordeal.  Here is her post:

Be Brave.

“Most of our obstacles would melt away if instead of cowering before them, we should make up our minds to walk boldly through them.” 
~Orison Swett Marden

My husband used to own an online stroller/carseat store - they sold every kind of stroller you could think of. My husband is an entrepreneur at heart so he loved owning this business – and there were perks! I remember one afternoon when our daughter threw up in the car – all over her carseat. I nauseously called my husband to ask the best way to clean the carseat cover. He said, “Don’t worry about it, I’ll bring a new one home.”

Now that is a perk.

A good one.

In 2007, when the economy crashed, so did his online business.

It was so sad for us, just as it was for many business owners during that time. We watched the business dip quickly and then further deteriorate each month. Tim tried to revive the company however, after three years no amount of life-support was going to bring the company back. It was heartbreaking in many ways.

I recall a weekend during that time when I was at a TOFW in St. Louis, Missouri. The event was over and I sat in my hotel room feeling completely distraught, scared and alone. What were we going to do? How would we ever pay back our investment? What did the future hold…because it sure didn’t look very bright. It was a financial future that I didn’t really want to step into.

I was scared.

Alone and worried, I knelt next to the hotel bed, and prayed. I can’t remember what I said. But I remember exactly – word for word – what Heavenly Father said. (I used the room pen and pad to write it down.)

“Be brave and trust a while longer and the benefits will be worth it.”

Okay. I can do that. I can be brave. I can trust – I know Heavenly Father loves us and won’t let us down. A “while longer” didn’t seem too far off. I wasn’t sure how long a “while longer” was going to be - perhaps 3 months? 6 months? Maybe a year?

Five.

Five years.

Thank goodness Heavenly Father only said “a while longer,” instead of be brave for five more years and then the blessings will come. I don’t think I would have gotten up off of the floor. I might still be in that hotel room wondering how I would make it that long. But since I didn’t know exactly how long I had to endure, I just endured. I watched, looked and prayed for the blessings to come.

After a lot of blood, sweat and tears (Tim was responsible for the blood and sweat – I took charge of the tears), we finally sold the business last summer.

There is still a road of recovery in front of us, but I feel the promised blessings coming. I have watched some of what must be the “benefits.” And I feel grateful. Very grateful.

Perhaps the Lord is asking you to be brave and trust a while longer too. It is scary sometimes, I know. But you can do it. Don’t quit. Never give up. Keep praying. Always believe.

The blessings will come, and the benefits will be worth it.

Blog to you soon,

Hilary