"Life, the Universe, and Everything"...

Right now I'm reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy-a very funny collection of books, and a short story all rolled into one. One of the books is called "Life, the Universe, and Everything". This particular book discusses the meaning of life and gives the answer to the Ultimate question, as determined by a super computer--the answer is 42. However, another super computer is then required to figure out the Ultimate Question.

When life gets complicated, I sometimes think "Wouldn't it be great if the answer to everything was 42?" Of course, this makes no sense, but "42" would certainly keep things interesting, in an unforeseeable way. Anyway, as I ramble about life, the universe, and everything, I'm listening to the rain and thunder outside, which was the inspiration for the the lightening background. I absolutely LOVE lightening. Although, I'm not a fan of the cold rain we've been having lately. I try to consider that the green foliage for which the East coast is famous would not be quite so green without the rain. And with that, I must remember the fact that we must all go through things we don't like in order to appreciate the good that happens to us and the things with which we are blessed. This leads me to contemplate the events of the last few months. In December, I posted a small bit about the fact that Jon graduated with his Bachelors in Art. We then began the process of looking for and applying to jobs, but with no success. It's only recently that we have been considering the prospect of Jon attending graduate school. This has been the result of zero positive response to Jon's job hunt and the current economic situation, which are directly related, we feel. So, this weekend, we visited a couple of grad schools and we've decided upon one that feels right. Now the challenge will be for Jon to get in. We think it's doable, but it will definitely require hard work and sacrifice. But we figure that most things that are 'worth it' are easy. In the famous words of a missionary companion of a friend of a sister and her husband, we're "just going to do it" and we shall see where this journey takes us. As President James E. Faust once said in an Ensign article from October 2002, "Let us not take counsel from our fears. May we remember always to be of good cheer, put our faith in God, and live worthy for Him to direct us. We are each entitled to receive personal inspiration to guide us through our mortal probation. May we so live that our hearts are open at all times to the whisperings and comfort of the Spirit." So with hopeful hearts and a leap of faith, we're going for it and we will be better for the experience, no matter what happens in the end.