For the Beauty of the Earth

On Friday I went to the temple in Nauvoo and what a sweet experience. As I drove through the fields and hills of Missouri I was once again taken back by the beauty that surrounds me. I love farm country - that is probably why Missouri is so easy to feel at home in. I love to look out at wide fields of corn, farmhouses, barns and silo's - there is something very honest and good about it all. Once I got to the temple I felt really tired - probably because of the hectic morning and then sitting for 2.5 hours as I drove to the temple, but boy am I glad I went. The session was pretty small and that is always nice to me, the temple is just amazing and I love that part too. When I walked into the Celestial room I was overcome with peace and joy. I wish I could just live in that room and only leave for brief periods of time. The first words that came to my mind were the words from the hymn "For the Beauty of the Earth". I have always loved that song and it always makes me smile as I think about the amazing earth the Lord created for me and for you. I can get so caught up in just the landscape or in a sunset that I forget about the other worries in life - what a loving Father in Heaven to create such a thing. I wish that I could take that feeling and bottle it, allowing myself a whif from time to time when I need a boost but I guess that is the great thing about having 128 operating temples in the world, I have always been blessed to be no further than 2-3 hours away and my monthly visit is like a ray of sunshine in my life - I am so grateful.
As my faithful readers know I contemplate a lot - I drive a lot and so I have lots of time to spend thinking about and wondering about the things of this world, my life choices, the gospel, my friends problems, my families worries, etc. While I was driving to the temple I decided that I needed to decide which MPH program was really best for me - is it at A&M (which I have always made fun of) or UT (Daddy's favorite). Well, I have been leaning to A&M for a while because of location, concentration (they are a rural health school - which I want to study), and because it seems to draw me more than the other school. The one thing I have worried about is money - always the bain of my existence. Well, after praying about it I have decided to go with A&M. I am now praying and hoping for several different things. 1 - acceptance into the program, 2- an assistantship so they pay for school, 3 - the ability to teach at Blinn College in the Spring. I don't know anyone at Blinn but I am going to be filling out applications and contacting them in the next month or so to start teaching there in Jan. I truly hope that it happens the way I would like - move to Houston in Dec., start teaching in Jan, start a new program in Jan, finish up my dissertation research over spring break or possibly in Jan before school starts, graduate from MU in Dec, graduate from A&M in August 2010. Sounds like a lot but here to hoping!