With the Girls...Again

The week after we came home from dropping Caleb off from school and just before Jacob left to do his Air Force TDY in Dayton, Ohio for the month of September, Bishop McAllister came to the house to talk to "us". It was really to talk to me. He extended the calling for me to serve as the Young Women President in the Adams Ward. 

I was stunned. I didn't see that one coming. I had hoped that the call would be for Jacob, knew it most likely was something for me, but didn't think it would be this. If I'm being honest, I was relieved that it wasn't Relief Society President. None-the-less, I was amazed that NOW was the time when the Lord saw fit to give me another major calling...when I was dealing with the loss of dropping my first child off at college and was losing my husband for a month, while getting ready to start the school year with the other boys in this new frontier of distance learning. I was stressed, to say the least. Yet, that has always, always been the case when it has come to me and callings. It's almost become hilarious really. If I am going through something major in my personal life, it must be time to step it up and serve. That way I don't have time to worry about myself. My thoughts are turned towards the work.  

When I was first called into a presidency, it was when we were in England. I was a young mom, pregnant, living in a foreign country, and learning how to be a military wife when I was called to be the first counselor in the Relief Society. While still there, I was called into a SECOND RS presidency, and that time Jacob was also in the bishopric. Between the two of us, there were constant meetings, both of us drove separately to church, picking up members and investigators along the way. We were a busy duo.

Flash forward to when we lived in Nevada. I was SUPER pregnant. Like, overdue and about to be induced in three days sort of pregnant, when I was called to be the Primary President. Ha! I still remember the gasps from the congregation when I stood up to be sustained. I was a med school widow at the time, and would have my newborn with me every Sunday as I tried to lead and teach Sharing Time. No rest for the weary, right?

Once we moved to Ohio, I figured that I'd be off the hook for a little while. I was then a residency widow with three young boys, we were living a thousand miles away from family...so, I was called to be Primary President for the second time. Ha! No wallowing in self-pity for me! There was no time to worry about missing my husband or how I would be homeschooling my youngest kiddo who needed to start kindergarten, but missed the age cut off. There was too much to do. It wasn't until I was finally hospitalized for the small bowel resection and diagnosed with Crohn's Disease that I asked to be released so that I could recover a bit. That lasted just long enough for us to move to Washington and get settled into our new house. 

I was hospitalized with a bowel obstruction on the first day of school that year and was in the hospital for almost a week...then was extended the call to be Young Women President for the first time. Yup. No exaggerations. I told the bishop that I would need to lean on my counselors if I was too ill to attend church or activities. He said that would be alright, and that's exactly what I did. I had to duck out a number of times because my digestion was so unpredictable and I would be suddenly sick. I didn't know how I would be able to do what I was set apart to do. And yet. I did. 

I slowly started to recover and got to work. Like every other time before, despite the personal trials that I was going through, I found a way to love those whom I was called to serve. I found that I had the strength and received the revelation necessary to teach them and to lead them. And like every other time, when it came time for my release, I felt the loss. I was relieved, yet sad to be done and to let go, but I finished knowing that I had done what I could. 

So, here I am yet again, being called to lead and to serve. Back with the girls. Not knowing what I have in me to do it. Not sure how I'll find the time and the energy. Not completely confident in myself or how I will deal with my own issues. And yet, I know that Heavenly Father will bless me. He always has. I trust that there is something I'm supposed to do for these girls, or maybe it's something they are supposed to do for me. Either way, I am sure that He is with me. My Savior is with me. When I am doing my best to do Their work, They won't let it fail. I am certainly not a perfect tool, but I am willing to be Their instrument.