By Roseanne Dawes

We went into education because it felt safe.

My husband taught in the classroom for seven years and then spent the next fifteen in administration—all in the same building. After a while, he started to feel stagnant. He tried to switch buildings or get a different assignment to shake things up, but nothing panned out.

That’s when we made a hard—but inspired—decision to move and look for a new job elsewhere. It felt like the next right step.

Not long after starting the new position, my husband quickly realized it wasn’t what he thought he’d signed up for. It felt like they expected him to reform the school, but with no automation to make the changes he felt were best for the students, the teachers, or the school overall. It was a tough year and a half.

Then, in February 2020, he was notified that the district would not be renewing his contract. But instead of panic, he felt an inexplicable peace wash over him—an assurance that things were going to be okay.

One month later, schools shut down because of the pandemic.

Suddenly, he didn’t have to face a building full of questions from parents and staff about why he wouldn’t be returning the next year. He didn’t have to carry the pressure of trying to make school work during the chaotic season when “every parent is now a homeschool teacher.” The district had already decided how they’d proceed, and he was left with very little responsibility for the remainder of the school year.

It was an emotional four months.

He applied to job after job in other districts, but nothing was coming through. He started wondering if there was a red flag on his resume… if maybe his teaching and administrative career had already run its course. It shook us—because “education was safe,” or so we thought.

For eleven months, we rode a rollercoaster of calm trust and anxious uncertainty. Some days we felt rooted in faith. Other days, it felt like the world had turned upside down and we were being tossed around inside it.

But through it all, miracles showed up—large and small:

• Unexpected money arrived right when we needed it.

• We took road trips to visit our children across the country.

• We lingered, took detours, and spent extra days on the road—because we had nowhere else we had to be.

• Government stimulus checks came at just the right time to replace our shredded sofa.

• Most importantly, we were free and available to care for my husband’s dying father throughout 2020–2021.

And even when our minds wandered and we got discouraged—because nothing was “falling into place” the way we expected—we kept receiving gentle, tender reminders to trust in that original feeling of peace. We held onto the truth that, according to the Law of Polarity, something this "bad" had to come with an equal or greater benefit on the other side.

So we kept moving forward. Even when it didn’t feel fruitful, we followed inspiration. We acted in faith.

And then, just a week after my father-in-law passed away, my husband received a job offer. It was one that suited his personality and honored his creative genius better than we could have ever planned ourselves.

Looking back now, it’s so clear: he needed to be available to help his mom care for his dad in those final months. And we’re so grateful that we were.

What this experience taught us—again—is that what we perceive as hardship is often part of a greater orchestration for our good. Heavenly Father sees more than we do. And when we exercise faith and choose to live by these universal laws and principles, we open the door for Him to do “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.”

It may not come on our timeline. It may not look the way we imagined.
But it will be better than we hoped… if we keep moving forward and trust.