Day 18: Sometimes I Wish I Had a Hiding Place

Aha:
I came across this talk by President Henry B. Eyring titled, "Where is the Pavilion?" from this most recent General Conference.  I've edited it a bit, so feel free to read the whole thing by clicking the link above.

"In the depths of his anguish in Liberty Jail, the Prophet Joseph Smith cried out: “O God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?”¹ Many of us, in moments of personal anguish, feel that God is far from us. The pavilion that seems to intercept divine aid does not cover God but occasionally covers us. God is never hidden, yet sometimes we are, covered by a pavilion of motivations that draw us away from God and make Him seem distant and inaccessible. Our own desires, rather than a feeling of “Thy will be done,”² create the feeling of a pavilion blocking God. God is not unable to see us or communicate with us, but we may be unwilling to listen or submit to His will and His time.

Our feelings of separation from God will diminish as we become more childlike before Him. That is not easy in a world where the opinions of other human beings can have such an effect on our motives. But it will help us recognize this truth: God is close to us and aware of us and never hides from His faithful children.

My lifetime...objectives might have been a pavilion dividing me from a loving Father who knew better than I did what my future could hold. 

...Another way we can create a barrier to knowing God’s will or feeling His love for us: we can’t insist on our timetable when the Lord has His own. I thought I had spent enough time in my service...and was in a hurry to move on. Sometimes our insistence on acting according to our own timetable can obscure His will for us....

We remove the pavilion when we feel and pray, “Thy will be done” and “in Thine own time.” His time should be soon enough for us since we know that He wants only what is best....

Submitting fully to heaven’s will...is essential to removing the spiritual pavilions we sometimes put over our heads. But it does not guarantee immediate answers to our prayers.

The Lord’s delays often seem long; some last a lifetime. But they are always calculated to bless. They need never be times of loneliness or sorrow or impatience.

Although His time is not always our time, we can be sure that the Lord keeps His promises." 

Ha ha:
About a month ago I had one of those "Aw, crap" sort of days--seemed like everything was going wrong.
My morning started out well.  We had a faculty candidate come through and she was a pleasure to escort back and forth to all of her interviews.  In between one of her interviews I had a few minutes to spare and ate a peach.  Before I could check my teeth to ensure they were peach-free, the candidate came back to my desk and was ready for her next meeting.  I prayed my teeth were clear!
We walked and talked for about 5 minutes.  I chatted with some people, dropped her off, talked with a few more people and then stopped in the bathroom.
When I went to unzip my zipper it was already down!  I had conversed with all those people with an unzipped zipper!
Well, when I washed my hands I flashed my teeth and, sure enough, I had a HUGE chunk of peach skin in my teeth!!  What didn't anyone say anything??
Mortified, I walked back to my desk, got out a piece of floss and worked to get the peach out of my teeth.  I got the peach out, but the problem was, I had just used lotion and I couldn't get the floss back OUT of my teeth.

Finally, after a good yank with some tweezers I was able to pull it out of my teeth.
Wow.  What a morning.