What I Learned about Faith When My Plans Fell Apart
After our plans for the future fell apart, my husband and I were reminded that faith is the key to moving forward with hope.
Photograph from Getty Images
My husband and I were looking forward to the month of March this year. We were waiting for an answer that would change our lives.
We had been making plans to emigrate and start a new life in another country. We had made the decision a few months before, and things were turning out just as we hoped they would. My husband had been accepted to a school, and the process to get our visa approved was running smoothly.
As we waited for the visa, we began to sell some things from our home—nonessential things—but as time passed, we made the decision to sell everything. With only two weeks left before our moving date and the interview to get our visa, we sold everything in our home and temporarily moved in with my parents. We had a lot of faith that everything was going to be OK.
Then the long-awaited month of March arrived. We attended our interview, and unfortunately things did not turn out as we had expected.
Our visa was rejected!
Facing the Unknown
Leaving the embassy, my husband and I were in shock. We couldn’t believe that they had rejected us.
When we returned to my parents’ home, we were devastated. We didn’t know what to do or what to think. All we had was two suitcases each, filled with all our belongings, and suddenly no plans for the future at all.
We had so many questions: Should we start from scratch again in our city? Should we move to another city? Should we stay with my parents for a while? We found ourselves facing a challenge that was testing our patience, faith, courage, and hope. We felt lost, with no home of our own to go to and so many plans crumbling.
Accepting the Prophet’s Invitation
General conference was just a few weeks after our devastating news. Listening to President Russell M. Nelson’s address about faith gave us so much peace. We took to heart his message that “it takes … even more faith to accept a disappointing answer.”1
His invitation to “increase [our] faith”2 gave us the courage to move forward, to think positively, to look for growth in our challenges, to calm down, to breathe, and to realize that not everything was so terrible. We also recognized that we had the support of all our family and loved ones, and especially of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
I love my Heavenly Father, and I don’t blame Him for my trials and challenges. I know that they are part of life and necessary to grow and progress. I know that He loves us, knows each one of us, and wants the best for our lives.
Trusting in Heavenly Father to Lead Us
Many weeks have passed since that moment our visa was rejected. And now we see the path before us a little more clearly. We still don’t fully understand why everything happened, but what I do know is that better things always await us. After difficult moments, I have always looked back and realized that when I trust and have faith in Heavenly Father, He will always lead me to better things than I had planned for myself.
I don’t know when our plans to emigrate will come to fruition, but President Nelson reminded me that even though things won’t always turn out as we want or hope, when we accept Heavenly Father’s will and deepen our faith, we will be led to wonderful opportunities in the future.