Changes

It's official: I accepted a job offer! Where, you may ask? I'll give you a few hints:

1. It's #6 on the current Fortune 500, just behind Walmart, the oil companies and Fannie Mae

2. Thomas Edison started it in 1890

3. It includes business units of energy, aviation, finance, appliances, transportation and my division, healthcare

Ok, so if you haven't guessed, I'm going to be working for GE Healthcare OEC in Salt Lake City, Utah. This division makes x-ray machines used in orthopedic surgeries, allowing incision sites to be significantly smaller, leading to shorter recovery times, lower infection rates, and vastly improved quality of life.

I really hadn't planned on staying in Utah beyond the eight - 8!! - years I have been here for school, but I think Salt Lake City will be a nice change of pace from Provo. And I have to admit, especially with all the rain we got this year, I live in a beautiful state! I'm mostly just cranky that now I have no more excuses to keep my California residency. I guess it is time to let go - but I am not giving up my 714 area code!

Amen.

Things Work Out

“It isn’t as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out. Don’t worry. I say that to myself every morning. It will all work out. If you do your best, it will all work out. Put your trust in God, and move forward with faith and confidence in the future. The Lord will not forsake us. He will not forsake us. … If we will put our trust in Him, if we will pray to Him, if we will live worthy of His blessings, He will hear our prayers” (Jordan Utah South regional conference, priesthood session, 1 Mar. 1997).

Sunday Inspiration - Identity Crisis

I've been thinking recently about how we define our identities. What's the first thing you ask when you meet someone new? For me, it's usually, "What are you doing with your life?" And maybe that's a shallow question to ask, and it certainly is a shallow thing upon which to base one's identity. But I realized that the hardest thing about "pre-employment" is that I no longer have a good answer to that question. I could say, "Sleeping in," "Going to the pool," or "Baking everything I see on this blog," and I should say, "Looking for a job," but that is not nearly as satisfying to my ego than, "Finishing up my masters," or what I would like to say, "Starting this awesome job at _____." And yes, I get that the only wounded party here is my ego, and it could probably use the bruises, so this is most likely very good for me. It's just that, other than broccoli and peas, I usually dislike things that are good for me :)


I've realized, though, that I am happiest when my identity is based not on what I do but on who I am. In last April's General Conference, Elder Lynn G. Robbins said, "Identity confusion can also occur when we ask children what they want to be when they grow up, as if what a person does for a living is who he or she is. Neither professions nor possessions should define identity or self-worth. The Savior, for example, was a humble carpenter, but that hardly defined His life."

What a tragedy it would be to think of Jesus Christ as a carpenter, and not the Savior. And I know for a fact that when He looks at me He doesn't see an unemployed, frustrated job-seeker with nothing to show for her two degrees. He sees a daughter of God, a sister, a friend, a temple-goer, a baker of cookies for someone who had a bad day. And yes, a girl whose faith, hope, trust and patience can use some refining, and He's happy to oblige. But the lack of a job in no way lessens my worth, and when I do find one, it won't increase my worth in His eyes. My value was decided before birth, and fixed as Jesus Christ suffered in Gethsemane and on Calvary, and nothing I do or have - or don't - will alter that.