"Life is Meant to Be an Adventure"

Here we go again.  Dust in the wind. A new adventure. A new place. A new time. 

Dave finished up his last day at Stillwater Billings Clinic on December 31.  His employees and providers were all sad to see him go.  They put on a great party with desserts and Nerf gun wars (inside joke for them), and presented him with a beautiful metal picture of the Big Sky skyline. He was asked to resign, so he told everyone he was doing so to pursue other opportunities. So many came to him, feeling sad he was leaving, many catching the drift about what was really going on.  He got e-mails and calls and texts from those on main campus telling him how well he did and how they'd really miss him.  Dave worked with an attorney for a few months to negotiate and get more out of the settlement.  We are glad he did.  They were ready to restructure things, but told Dave "poor performance".  ?  All of his evaluations were excellent (and they never gave him his most recent one and everyone knows it's good), the hospital keeps getting patient quality and safety awards, they're making more than they ever have, and employee satisfaction is very high.  The BC quality director e-mailed him and told him out of 9 quality measures, this hospital was first on 6 of the 9.  His boss (who pursued another job in March because he was told this was coming), called him more than once and gave him encouraging words. He's done a great job and a great work and while we've loved our time here, apparently, it is time to move on.  

This was a big blow and hard for all of us. One night a few weeks after we told the kids we were likely moving, Cov was very upset.  He had been sad the last few days about leaving his friends.  I told him to pray and take it to the Lord, as He had been there and felt that, too.  The next day, he told me with a huge smile on his face that he prayed and felt the warmest feeling like a blanket around him and knew it would be okay and he was eager to try it again!  We discussed how that was the Holy Ghost helping him feel God and Jesus Christ's love for him.  What a blessing!

As Dave and I ventured down to Silver City at the end of January, we didn't feel 100%. Not what our first choice would be, but if it is where the Lord would have us be, that's where we will go.  We are not sure but for our family, we will trust in the Lord. Proverbs 3:5-6 keeps coming to my mind - "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding, In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."  It's always a good idea to trust Him, and we can see it as another adventure, and the next destination in our mortal journey rather than an obstacle. 

"Don't die without embracing the daring adventure your life is meant to be." -Steve Palvina

"The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience." – Eleanor Roosevelt

"There is much more to life than following others’ prescribed path. There is so much more to life than what you experience right now. You need to decide who you are for yourself. Become a whole being. Adventure." – Roy T. Bennett

"The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun." – Jon Krakauer

"Until you step into the unknown, you don’t know what you’re made of." – Roy T. Bennett

"First you jump off the cliff and build your wings on the way down." – Ray Bradbury

"Life experience is what defines our character, even if it means getting your heart broken or being lied to. You know, you need the downs to appreciate the ups. Going on the adventure or taking that risk is important." – Nev Schulman

"Life is nothing but a great adventure."