The Same Boat

I ran into one of my Young Women this week who was in my class 

when she was in Jr. High and now she's 20 years old. 

She's as cute and darling as she ever was.

She's is a very generous hugger, exudes light, and is so, so easy to love.

And she's going through a really hard time right now.

Right before her freshman year at college, she tore out her acl(?) and was on crutches for a while and had to postpone school. Then she had to have a second surgery.

Now her leg is in good shape, and she's planning on starting school this fall, 

but is overwhelmed with the cost, finding a job and she didn't qualify for financial aid.

Her mom is a school teacher, no dad.

We hugged and we hugged as she told me about her concerns in the middle of Target,

all the while with a big smile in spite of a few tears.

I told her, believe it or not, I was in almost exactly her same situation at her age.

From an initial ankle injury, to a second surgery and 6 weeks on crutches.

Financial woes with literally no money to buy food, 

once surviving on one meal a day, spaghetti -- plain -- for two weeks until my paycheck.

That year I didn't qualify for financial aid -- not even student loans.

Working two jobs to make ends meet.

Our stories are very, very similar. I can empathize but I can also say with conviction, 

it will get better. It really, really will.

***

A walk down memory lane:

First surgery to remove bone chips from my "sprained ankle jumping off a bridge to impress the boys" incident from the previous year. Was only on crutches for a few days.

But it was brutal getting to/from class.

I was working at the candy counter in BYU Bookstore and had just lost my second job at JB's as a waitress when the restaurant shut down. 

Is it any wonder these were my grades?

After I moved home to work full-time, I was jogging with Michelle and had to stop and stomp my foot on the ground to "unlock" it. "This happens all the time." I said.
"I just have to stomp it to unlock it. No big deal."

Michelle convinced me it wasn't normal (WHAT would I have done without my sister who taught me SO many things?) and to talk to mom.

I had a second surgery to remove a bone chip the size of a thumbnail that was lodged in my Achilles tendon and would flap down and cause the "lock." The removal and repair of the bone required crutches for six weeks and absolutely no weight bearing at all.

Crutching all around Las Vegas was not nearly as fun as we were making it look.

By the time spring and summer semester rolled around, I could work again.

And walk again.

My financial problems weren't over, but I had so many little miracles that cemented my testimony of tithing -- from my roommates buying me groceries, to $20 surprise checks from Grandmas. Twice my apartment complex let me have a few days grace period to pay my rent without a penalty and once my bishopric counselor, feeling prompted I needed financial help, asked "how much do you need?" and gave me $100. Finally, the next year I qualified for student loans and loved my job in the bookstore.

Tithing isn't a faith-based exercise for me anymore. It's not a sacrifice.

It's a knowledge as sure as I know anything.

"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." - Malachi 3:10

I really don't think anyone should go through what I went through. 

But I SAW so many blessings too.

Blessings--life-changing lessons experiences--that you don't appreciate 

unless you're on your knees and desperate.