The Sunday before Christmas in 2009, I was at church, getting mentally prepared to conduct our congregation’s Christmas program. It’s a lot of work to pull this together because we have a children’s choir, adult choir, narrator, piano, organ, flute, violin, cello, and string bass. Even with all the work, I love it. Hardly anything else I do makes me feel so alive. However, just before the program, I had a strong impression in my mind and heart that said, “Enjoy this moment. Change is coming.” What does that mean?
Over the next few weeks, I had similar impressions. In fact, the “voices in my head” were starting to drive me crazy; it got to the point where I said, “O.K., I get it, there’s going to be a big change in my life.” But what I needed to do was focus on the things I needed to change to prepare for the “big change.” So, the focus of my prayers shifted, and I started asking, “What do I need to do to prepare?” After I started listening, I felt I needed to do two specific things: One was to be more selective in what media I watched and listened to. And two, I felt impressed to get up a half-hour earlier to study the scriptures and pray. Thus, I started a habit of getting up between 4:45 a.m. – 5:00 a.m. and studying the scriptures and praying for about half an hour or so until I got ready to go to the gym.
The impression of getting up early came from a talk I heard about when Marion G. Romney (1897-1988) was asked to fill a very responsible position in my church. He felt inadequate in his new assignment, so he sought advice from his friend, Harold B. Lee (1899–1973). The counsel offered that day both surprised and motivated him. Brother Lee said, “If you are to be successful, you will need to be inspired. You will need to receive Revelation. Let me give you one piece of advice: Go to bed early and get up early. If you do, your body and mind will become rested and then in the quiet of those early morning hours, you will receive more flashes of inspiration and insight than at any other time of the day.”
The biggest impact from these changes in my life came from work. God helped me at work. Let me mention it twice. I was working at Charlotte Russe, which was bought by a new owner. I oversaw the budget for the New Year and felt pressure to get it right. Because of the purchase, the accounting was very messy. We were having difficulty reconciling the figures for an upcoming board meeting. So, we decided to come in on a Saturday morning to sort it out for a Monday morning board meeting. On Saturday morning, I awoke early from an impression to look at three very specific areas to reconcile the figures. When I went to work, I looked at the three areas and sure enough, we found the issues. We were well prepared for the meeting. On another occasion, I was scheduled to meet with the Executive Vice President over the stores. This was another sticky situation because the owners wanted more cuts in the store budget. It could have been a very contentious meeting. About half an hour before the meeting, I was working on the last-minute preparations and received a direct impression of how to present the numbers. I went into the meeting prepared, and the meeting went very well. I’m sure I wouldn’t have received those impressions had I not strived to get the spirit into my life.
And what was the change?
As I said, our company was bought by a new owner. In late Spring, the new CEO invited me into her office and said, “Larry, we like you. This paper shows the stock you’ll receive when we go public in four or five years. We’re giving you more than other people at your level cause you’re doing a great job. Nice work, keep it up.” Well… it couldn’t have been more than three weeks after that meeting when we hired a new CFO. And it couldn’t have been more than three weeks after that, I was “invited” back into the CFO’s office and let go along with my boss, the VP of finance. They replaced both of us with one person to cut costs. Essentially, I went from the penthouse to the outhouse in only weeks.
However, the habit of getting up early saved me during the next 9 months of unemployment. Moreover, the impression of getting up early wasn’t just about the loss of that job or that change. Over the next seven years, I also changed jobs another five times because of ownership changes. Some version of that “we love you” to “let me show you the door” conversation took place another five times. Getting up early, daily scripture study, and daily prayer are an absolute must in my life to feel God’s power and serenity in my life. It is my daily manna. I could never have lived through those periods of unemployment without it. On a very practical level, it works to receive the revelation needed to solve problems. Also, on a very practical level, it works to receive peace, calm, assurance, love, and serenity to get through the day. But on a personal level, it’s more about building the relationship with my Heavenly Parents and becoming something more with Them.
Change is always coming. Get ready through daily communion with the Divine.
The artwork is called “Star Stretcher” and is used by permission from Eva Koleva Timothy