At the age of 51, when most people are mentally moving toward retirement, I gave into God’s promptings and returned to school full time. Though I was employed full time and had five children still at home, I knew I needed to complete my education. The Lord’s goal for me? To work towards becoming a nurse.
Become a nurse? At my age? Though I knew age wasn’t a factor for Abraham or Noah it was a worry for me. What would people think? Would the professors and those who selected candidates for the nursing program discount me because of my age?
With those doubts ringing daily in my mind I decided I would do as the Lord was prompting and return to school.
The week school began our tiny branch found themselves in desperate need of an early morning seminary teacher. With hesitation the calling was extended to me. My stake president, branch president and husband all voiced concerns over my ability to take on the calling with my upcoming school schedule. I told them I needed the blessings that would come from teaching seminary each morning.
So with all that on my plate I went back to school and that first weekend I found myself overwhelmed by school work and looking at using Sunday to do my assignments. Against all sense of logic I decided I needed the Lord’s help more than I needed Sunday to study or do my work. I made the commitment that, regardless of what was facing me at school on Monday morning I would not study or do homework on Sundays. If I needed more time I would get up early on Monday morning but I would give the Sabbath to the Lord.
For two and a half years I kept that promise and never once did I study or do homework on Sunday. Often that meant getting up at 2:30 or 3 on Monday morning but Sunday was for the Lord.
After two and a half years of full-time school I completed all the prerequisites to apply to the bachelor’s nursing degree program with a 3.97. My cumulative GPA for an associate of science degree was a 3.93 and earned me one of three full-tuition waivers to complete the final two years of my education.
Was keeping the Sabbath Day a delight as Isaiah said? Yes! It was a time for me to relax my mind, enjoy my family and immerse myself in the Gospel.
"If thou turn away…from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight,…and shalt honour [the Lord], not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
“Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord.” (Isaiah 58:13-14)
I know that promise is true. I am absolutely delighted by the help and blessings the Lord has given to me! I know there is no way I could have accomplished those kinds of grades, been accepted into a very competitive program and received a needed tuition waiver on my own. While working full-time, teaching seminary every morning and taking care of my family I needed His help and He gave it in greater abundance than I could have imagined or even designed.
Russell M. Nelson said, “The Lord gave us this special day, not for amusement or daily labor but for a rest from duty, with physical and spiritual relief.”
And, at the opening of this dispensation, the Lord told the world through his prophet Joseph Smith, “For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High…And inasmuch as ye do these things with thanksgiving, with cheerful hearts and countenances…the fulness of the earth is yours.” (D&C 59:10 and 15)
Elder Nelson went on to say that “Faith in God engenders a love for the Sabbath; faith in the Sabbath engenders a love for God. A sacred Sabbath truly is a delight.”
I knew the Lord wanted me to return to school. I knew that He would help me if I honored my covenants and kept the Sabbath day holy. I have found out that a sacred Sabbath truly is a delight…not only for the spiritual blessings we receive but for the earthly blessings He gives us.
We may not readily see the miracles and blessings that come to us for putting aside the things of the world for one day but those blessings will accumulate like oil in our lamps until one day we will look back and know that because we gave the Lord one day a week He carried us and blessed us through seven days each week.
To read Elder Nelson's talk, go to: The Sabbath is a Delight
Showing posts with label college. Show all posts
Showing posts with label college. Show all posts
Sunday, October 4, 2015
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Starting back to school at 49
As if working 50 to 60 hours a week and raising six children wasn’t enough on my plate, I added a helping of full-time school this spring. By the time my graduatation date finally rolls around this time, I will have crossed over the 50-year mark. I could even be a grandmother.
When my hubby graduated from college before me, he moved our family to rural Montana. At that time, the closest university was in another state and it did not have a secondary education program. Online classes were rare, expensive and not in courses I needed to finish my degree. With no other options available, I did what many young mothers do…I chose my family over my education.
Some years later, our family moved to within 30 minutes of a university. When my youngest entered school full-time I realized I was finally in a position to finish the degree I had started so many years earlier.
That excited thought was rapidly displaced by a long list of doubts, fears and despairs. Isn't that the way Satan loves to work--knock down your enthusiasm with naysaying? He doesn't even give you much chance to get a breath. The moment you think something would be cool, he's there telling you it's hopeless.
Well, here's what he told me.
I was too old to start now. Goodness, our first-born son was in college! He wouldn’t want to share text books with Mom!
(Actually, he was attending BYU and I would be going to a different school, so saving on text books was out of the question--though I am considering the idea with our second son!)
Okay, so I countered that attack because I wasn't really concerned with what my son or the younger college students would think. I had once been a younger college student with older students sprinkled into classes around me and I didn’t mind them--as long as they didn’t ask too many ‘old’ or dated questions and hold the class up too much with their reminiscing.
No one will hire you...you're too old. Okay, he did bump me back good on that one. Afterall, what chance did I have of being hired as a first-time teacher at age 50? That's almost retirement age! Why go through the expense and effort of school if it isn’t going to get me the job you want?
I think God countered on that fear. I literally found myself in several unplanned conversations with principals and superintendents—some I knew—some I did not. Each time, I believe those unexpected encounters were arranged by the Lord. So, I took advantage of them. I expressed my "old age" concern to them and asked their opinions. Each one readily answered that, grades being equal, they would hire a first-time teacher at my age with life experiences and real confidence over a fresh-out-of-college teacher with no life experiences and no confidence or, worse, cockiness or bravado. Their enthusiasm and support made me feel like I could finish my degree and then actually enter the world of teaching even if I was starting out in my 50s.
You won't be able to make school work Again, I was not worried about the academics portion. I’ve always been blessed with a sharp mind. However, I did find myself listening to this worry about making school fit with an already full and demanding life. Prayer and my patriarchal blessing helped me conquer this concern.
They won't accept your previous credits This fear may sound silly to some but I had been in my junior year when we moved away from educational opportunities. Would I have to start over? While waiting to hear back from several schools I took this agonizing fear to the Lord and received a very powerful answer. Even if no credits were accepted and I found myself starting completely over, this was what He wanted me to do. Case closed.
Making a move like this is dumb in this economy While many students work full-time and go to school full-time, my job was 50-60 hours a week with quite a bit of travel. I tried doing both for a while but it wasn’t working. Finally, my husband and I discussed financial options were I to quit my job. How could we make it work? I crunched numbers and lost sleep. What would going back to school do to my family financially? What if I had to quit my job to do it?
Still unsure, I asked for and received two priesthood blessings…one from my husband and another, a month later, from my brother when I visited with family in a distant state. Both blessings said the exact same thing. The Lord wanted me to pursue my education and the finances we needed would come. In answer to those blessings, my job did not want me to quit and they took great steps to accommodate me by letting me go part-time.
Yes, we have to tighten our financial belt at a time when the economy is a disaster and prices are rapidly rising, but we have the promise from the Lord that this is right and we will be fine. I can’t tell you how much peace that brings. I don’t have to make my decisions based on the price at the pump or the grocery store or watch the financial markets with fear. I know what the Lord wants me to do and what He has promised and that makes all the difference in the world.
When my hubby graduated from college before me, he moved our family to rural Montana. At that time, the closest university was in another state and it did not have a secondary education program. Online classes were rare, expensive and not in courses I needed to finish my degree. With no other options available, I did what many young mothers do…I chose my family over my education.
Some years later, our family moved to within 30 minutes of a university. When my youngest entered school full-time I realized I was finally in a position to finish the degree I had started so many years earlier.
That excited thought was rapidly displaced by a long list of doubts, fears and despairs. Isn't that the way Satan loves to work--knock down your enthusiasm with naysaying? He doesn't even give you much chance to get a breath. The moment you think something would be cool, he's there telling you it's hopeless.
Well, here's what he told me.
I was too old to start now. Goodness, our first-born son was in college! He wouldn’t want to share text books with Mom!
(Actually, he was attending BYU and I would be going to a different school, so saving on text books was out of the question--though I am considering the idea with our second son!)
Okay, so I countered that attack because I wasn't really concerned with what my son or the younger college students would think. I had once been a younger college student with older students sprinkled into classes around me and I didn’t mind them--as long as they didn’t ask too many ‘old’ or dated questions and hold the class up too much with their reminiscing.
No one will hire you...you're too old. Okay, he did bump me back good on that one. Afterall, what chance did I have of being hired as a first-time teacher at age 50? That's almost retirement age! Why go through the expense and effort of school if it isn’t going to get me the job you want?
I think God countered on that fear. I literally found myself in several unplanned conversations with principals and superintendents—some I knew—some I did not. Each time, I believe those unexpected encounters were arranged by the Lord. So, I took advantage of them. I expressed my "old age" concern to them and asked their opinions. Each one readily answered that, grades being equal, they would hire a first-time teacher at my age with life experiences and real confidence over a fresh-out-of-college teacher with no life experiences and no confidence or, worse, cockiness or bravado. Their enthusiasm and support made me feel like I could finish my degree and then actually enter the world of teaching even if I was starting out in my 50s.
You won't be able to make school work Again, I was not worried about the academics portion. I’ve always been blessed with a sharp mind. However, I did find myself listening to this worry about making school fit with an already full and demanding life. Prayer and my patriarchal blessing helped me conquer this concern.
They won't accept your previous credits This fear may sound silly to some but I had been in my junior year when we moved away from educational opportunities. Would I have to start over? While waiting to hear back from several schools I took this agonizing fear to the Lord and received a very powerful answer. Even if no credits were accepted and I found myself starting completely over, this was what He wanted me to do. Case closed.
Making a move like this is dumb in this economy While many students work full-time and go to school full-time, my job was 50-60 hours a week with quite a bit of travel. I tried doing both for a while but it wasn’t working. Finally, my husband and I discussed financial options were I to quit my job. How could we make it work? I crunched numbers and lost sleep. What would going back to school do to my family financially? What if I had to quit my job to do it?
Still unsure, I asked for and received two priesthood blessings…one from my husband and another, a month later, from my brother when I visited with family in a distant state. Both blessings said the exact same thing. The Lord wanted me to pursue my education and the finances we needed would come. In answer to those blessings, my job did not want me to quit and they took great steps to accommodate me by letting me go part-time.
Yes, we have to tighten our financial belt at a time when the economy is a disaster and prices are rapidly rising, but we have the promise from the Lord that this is right and we will be fine. I can’t tell you how much peace that brings. I don’t have to make my decisions based on the price at the pump or the grocery store or watch the financial markets with fear. I know what the Lord wants me to do and what He has promised and that makes all the difference in the world.
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