Freedom

I once read a story in the Ensign about a shepherd who rescued a sheep that had been abused.  The sheep kept running away, so her shepherd would keep her tied to a hobble during the day and then bring her back into the pen at night.  As he slowly allowed the sheep to feel the security of her new setting, he would lengthen the rope she wore, and then, after a while, he stopped attaching the rope to the hobble; however, because the sheep was so used to being tied down, she still wouldn't wander beyond where she was used to being.  She still felt the pressure of the rope around her neck, and so she didn't dare rejoice in her freedom or test out her new limits.
Steve just passed his NCLEX, which not only means that he's a licensed practicing nurse, but also means that he will be starting his new job as a nurse on Tuesday--a job perfectly suited to a student who still has one year left in nursing school before becoming an RN.
I should feel relieved, joyful, and ecstatic!  We're free from school for a few months, he has a job in the career path he has been wanting to pursue since he was a teenager, I finally have a husband who will be home and present to help me with the kids!
Yet, strangely enough, I still feel tied down--worrying what new stresses will come this way.  I've been so used to having another test to worry about, another job to stress over, the burdens that we've been bearing for so long now, that I relate to that sheep oh, too well...I can't quite fathom the idea of no tests or assignments to worry about for an entire SUMMER.
But, holy cow--my husband is a NURSE!!  Isn't that wonderful?!?!
It really is.
And I am so proud.
I'm sure that as I start to move a little more--start getting used to my husband being home more and the freedoms that I will feel because of his support--I will truly feel the joy that comes with it.
I'm grateful.  For a Shepherd who allows me to feel the joy of being relieved of the burdens that come with life, and for the joys that I know are yet to come.