The Temple and Driving School - September 27, 2016

When I had my appointment at Vanderbilt with Dr. Keedy this summer, Rich was pretty anxious about not missing the appointment or being late.  That really is nothing new if you know Rich.  But the crazy thing is that we had oodles of time but Rich was flying low, you could feel his anxiety.  As we hit Lebanon, TN suddenly he slowed down...yes...he had been caught speeding.  After receiving his ticket and we had a chance to talk I realized that his anxiety was because he'd done a reversal in his mind of the time.  Our appointment was for like 10 am and he knew it was central time, the car and our watches were set for eastern, but I think he was thinking they were central...I don't really know...but his little speeding ticket was going to cost us something like $300 and points on his license.  So, instead, he opted for driving school at $150 which would mean traveling back to Lebanon for the four hour class, but no points on the license either.

So - tonight was the class.  We had discussed it and decided that I would drop him off and I'd drive over to the temple and be able to get a session in and be back to pick him up just as he'd be getting out...he might have to wait a few minutes but not long.

We drove over, stopped for supper at Jack in the Box, dropped him off, and then I drove to the temple.  It took me a little over an hour (about 70 min) to get there.  Just as I was turning off the main road I had the impression that I needed to return to the driving school.  And when I turned into the temple parking lot, the same feeling returned.  I parked and pulled out my recommend and pondered momentarily whether that really was a prompting.  I decided to enter the temple, place a few names I wanted to put on the prayer role, say a prayer and go to the bathroom.  My prayer was simple, I knew that my desire to go to the temple was a good thing, a righteous thing...could it be that it was not what I was supposed to do?  I received the same impression and left the temple, climbed in the car and headed back to Lebanon.  I just decided to trust those promptings even though they made no sense.

So I pulled into the parking lot of the driving school about 8 pm - truly I'd had a nice drive.  Within 10 minutes or so of parking I was surprised when the door of the school opened and all of the students started leaving.  The class was out over two hours early!  Had I not heeded the promptings Rich would have had to walk quite a ways---the better part of a couple miles to get someplace safe to wait for me in an area of town that wasn't so great. 

To the casual reader this would not seem like such a big deal.  Perhaps a coincidence.  Or to someone who never questions whether or not the voice or feeling they are experiencing is the spirit or not - they would never know how often I have struggled to know and trust that voice.  It seems that there is always a running voice in my head and trying to determine what is my voice versus the spirit isn't always very easy for me.  I have often wondered how I got to this advanced age and yet still struggle with this.  Rich and I have had this conversation many times and he has often come down on the side of, "if you're trying your best to keep the commandments and do what is right, you probably are living by the spirit...you just may not be aware of it since that is a natural state."  To which I have often scoffed and wished it were true, feeling certain that if that were the case, wouldn't I know it?  It isn't that I have never felt the spirit.  I often have. But today I felt the unmistakeable promptings and didn't really question that it was the spirit.  I just trusted.  And it felt wonderful!  And I really do know that it was a tender mercy to have received those promptings and I feel so grateful that Rich is safe and that all worked out as it should have!