Linda Hall:
CLASS OF 1965
Twin Falls High SchoolClass of 1965
Twin falls, ID
Linda's Story
I was born in Lincoln, NE and moved to Twin Falls, ID at age 3. I loved growing up in Twin and was very sad when my family moved to Hyrum, UT near the end of my junior year. I learned as a very young child to trust God but it was heartbreaking to be separated from my first and only true love and to not be able to graduate with friends as planned.
I remained and worked near my family in various Utah positions until relocating to Houston in 1971. Houston was an awesome place to raise my two young sons. The education system was far advanced compared to Utah and it offered terrific opportunities for women in high tech management. I moved to Singapore in 1978 for two years and then returned to Houston. During these years, my boys and I always spent the first two weeks of June with my parents and family in Utah.
Watching my parents age from afar often troubled my heart, yet my sons and I continued to thrive and grow apart from our Utah roots. I remember justifying my desire to remain in Houston to God one day by saying, "I can't afford to move back home." Upon returning to Houston one year from a family visit, I was particularly troubled about my parents' health. Again, my dribble to God contained the words, "I can't afford to move back home." Laying in bed that night, God spoke in my heart and said, "If you wait until you can afford to move back home, you never will." Thankfully, I received that message loud and clear. The next morning I gave two weeks notice at work, put my house up for sale, rented the biggest U-haul truck made at that time (no AC/no power steering/7 gears/great fun). Trusting God with my whole heart, I loaded my two sons and two dogs and belongings and drove that rig, towing my pickup truck, back to Utah in 1981. It was the best decision of my life because it gave my sons and I ten wonderful years with my parents.
I continued working in the high tech industry in Salt Lake City and enjoyed many benefits from the burgeoning field of desktop computers and related peripheral products. I traveled the world, made lots of money, had lots of fun, but not for one second during that entire time did I believe that was who God raised me to be. A couple decades later, I found myself again dribbling to God with a new version of what I can't afford to do: "I can't afford to quit my job." Hmmmm. God had a different plan for me.
When my sons graduated from college, I did just what God asked. I quit my job and spent about three months doing nothing, wandering in the desert, so to speak. ...Expand for more
It was scary! I had to redefine who I was--no longer that successful high tech professional--who the heck was I? God worked overtime to transform me because I had been too busy to listen to the ever present gentle nudge in my heart. During this period, I drew closer in my understanding and discernment of what God was asking of me.
I began to volunteer as a chaplain at church and in the community. Perhaps I was supposed to try on this new 'chaplain cloak' to see how it felt. Well, it felt great--a sneak preview. Soon after, I enrolled in a clinical pastoral education program at St. Mark's Hospital, a requirement to work professionally in this field. It was as if everything in the universe came together in harmony. My volunteer efforts were fruitful and I was hired by a local hospice organization and a care center and served on hospital ethics boards and palliative care committees in the community. Although I continued to cling to some of my driven type A personality characteristics, I did, gratefully, become a much better listener and I grew to love this vocation deeply.
At the age of 54 I enrolled full time at Utah State University and graduated with a degree in human development three years later. In 2005, I was accepted as a candidate at Church Divinity School of the Pacific, part of the Graduate Theological Union consortium in Berkeley (not associated with University of California at Berkeley). I graduated with a Masters of Divinity in 2008. It is God's nurturing and transforming power that propels me (literally) and sustains me in this ministry.
I see much too many tragic and incredibly sad things in life and more suffering people than any one heart can bear; yet I am able to give it all up to God at the end of the day. The restorative nature of God's love somehow sustains me. I wake up after a sleepless night in the emergency room and wonder how on earth I can be a listening presence to anyone in the coming day. Only through God's abundant grace am I able to put both feet on the floor. I look back at my life in awe--not because I am anybody special--but because it is downright amazing what God can do with us. Along the way, God put some truly amazing people in my life to help me grow--friends, clergy, and total strangers. I am forever grateful.
The mystery of how God works in our lives is often a puzzle. After 45 years apart, my high school sweetheart and I--the one mentioned in the first paragraph--were reunited on-line one year ago--and are now married. Life is great, truly great.
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