Christmas and the end of 2014

Well 2014 has been quite an amazing year for us.  Let’s recap:

1.  Retired from Active Duty

2.  Joined the North Dakota National Guard
3.  Packed our house and moved to North Dakota
4.  Lived in a 5th Wheel trailer for the summer
5.  Added a beautiful baby girl to our family
6.  Bought a new house and unpacked our stuff from storage
7.  Went through 3 different jobs
8.  Ended the year with a white Christmas and a visit from Grandma & Grandpa

Just a few life changes for us :-)

Overall it has been fun and challenging.  Being that this is a family journal for us I wanted to take a little time and talk about how the Lord has guided us this last year.  As a lot of folks know my sweet wife is not the biggest fan of change, but let me tell you she went through more changes in a year than most people do in 10!  In true fashion she was fantastic and with all these changes handled them with a grace and beauty I am always amazed by.  There were many times and opportunities for us to throw up our hands and say,

We quit! 

No more!
Somebody else can do this!
Why the heck did we ever move to North Dakota??!!!

....but that would not be our style.  We Hargraves have a real nasty habit of digging in and getting the job done.  Many days I would come home after working 14~16hrs, just beat down and tired.  Haley was always there to pick me back up, tell me she loved me and send me back out the door the next morning.  There were many times we asked the Lord, Why?  He always answered, and would constantly guide us to where and what we needed to do and how. 

This Christmas we decided as a family that we would limit our gift giving and try to stay away from the materialism of the holidays and really focus on the birth of Jesus Christ.  Our little boys really helped with that.  Their sweet spirits are so close to Heaven it just seems to overflow into our home. It makes you feel so good as a parent when you ask your 5yr old, "what is Christmas all about?" and he responds with, "the birth of Jesus".  The presents and good food are just a plus!

We have also had a lot of changes in our extended families as well.  Some a little more difficult than others but all were and are growing experiences.  I wanted to also share in our family journal here a little miracle that happened to our family.  Just another example of how our loving Heavenly Father is always looking out for us.  Something my Daddy used to always say when people would ask him about his belief in God,

"Just because you don't believe in God doesn't mean He doesn't believes in you"

So when we first arrived in North Dakota we took one of the first jobs we could.  It was a very good job and it was a lot of fun and very challenging.  We always knew that we wanted to get in with one of the bigger companies like, Halliburton or Exxon.  However they have a very lengthy interview process and are very particular on who and when they hire. So we worked hard and moved to another job that was stationed out of Watford city.  This meant I was spending a lot of time away from home.  Which I was not very happy with.  They eventually let me go as well, due to overstaffing.  During this whole process I had been talking to ConocoPhillips.  They were taking so long on the interview process I really did not have high hopes for them.  Well after not working for almost a month and after a LOT of prayer I received a phone call.  This is where the miracle came in.

This is what happened that I found out later; due to the drop in oil prices all of the major oil companies had put a freeze on all new hires for the remainder of 2014.  Chris (who is now my boss) had received my resume and really wanted to hire me.  He was told by the local office that he would have to wait until 2015.  We, of course needed a job well before then.  Chris decided he would fly to Houston and get permission directly from the VP of operations, WHICH HE DID!  (Maybe a little divine intervention there?)  We started work the very next week.  Once again the good Lord took care of us and put us exactly where we needed to be.  Throughout my life a lot of folks, including some family have questioned my beliefs in the divine.  I can unequivocally say that they exist, they are true.  We have a loving Heavenly Father that is constantly, I would say even feverishly doing all he can to see to our wellbeing every second of every day.  He loves us!  This Christmas season has rejuvenated my faith.  As we watched our little ones laugh and wander at the magic of Christmas and marvel at the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.  He Lives!  He has restored his church again on the earth.  We have been given another testament of Jesus Christ in the form of the Book of Mormon.  Translated by the Prophet Joseph Smith along with additional scriptures and words from living prophets that guide us and help us today.  We will never be abandoned.  We will never be left alone.  We alone have the right to choose whether or not we will follow him and believe on his words.  What a comforting thought that is that we have a choice!  As we close out this year and give thanks for all that we have, especially our trials.  Through them we find out who we truly are!  What we truly can become, claim what is rightfully ours as sons and daughters of God. 

Merry Christmas and a very Happy New year!   

P.S...Christmas pictures to follow!