A Season to Grow
There are Mondays when I heave a sigh of relief that the weekend is over. There are other Mondays when I wish the weekend could have gone on a little longer. I'm not sure what I'm thinking today. I loved my weekend, but it left me deep in thought. Saturday evening was the General Relief Society Broadcast. It was emphasized that Relief Society is established after the pattern of the Priesthood. We were told that Relief Society helps us to reach our full potential. We were advised to "mind the gap" between what we believe and what we know and do. We were reminded about the legacy of Charity that was begun by the first Pioneer Relief Society sisters and has been passed down through the years. I left the meeting feeling that I wasn't doing everything that I should be doing, and wondering what I could add to my life to make it more fulfilling. Over the last few weeks, I've been cutting back on the games I've been playing on Facebook, feeling that they were a waste of time that could be better spent doing other things, but I didn't know what to replace them with. I considered baking bread to deliver to neighbors. I finished my children's halloween costumes. I began working on the calendar we give to grandparents for Christmas. Saturday night as I was lying in bed waiting for sleep I was wondering what I should be doing to make life more fulfilling.
Sunday dawned bright and early with the cats trying to dig a hole under our bedroom door. I got up to keep the cats from waking Steven, who hasn't been sleeping well lately. I don't usually check email that early in the morning, but I did yesterday, and discovered that my Mom had sent out copies of testimonies that she had asked each of her children to write. I remembered writing mine a couple months ago, shortly after returning from the Pioneer Trek. We were told to write not only our testimony, but how we received it. I spent the next while reading through the testimonies of my siblings. I felt the Spirit strongly as I read, marveling at how differently the Lord confirms the truth of his gospel to each of his children, even within the same family. Some of my siblings grew up never really doubting the truth, firm in the faith of what they had been taught. Others doubted and struggled for years. But the hand of the Lord was apparent in each of their lives. I was grateful for my parents and others who had taught me and helped me to develop my testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I finished reading them with my own testimony strengthened, and with a prayer in my heart for those of my siblings who are still struggling to know the truth, to recognize the promptings of the Spirit for what they are, to know of the great love that the Lord has for them.
At church yesterday, I was approached by the executive secretary asking if Steven and I could meet with the bishop for a few minutes. I agreed, without any idea what the bishop would want. We met with him after church, and he asked me if I would accept a calling that I felt entirely inadequate for. I think I must have given him a "deer in the headlights" kind of look for a minute or two. I've always been taught never to decline a calling. "Who the Lord calls he qualifies." The bishop asked me if I had known something like this was coming, and my immediate response to him was "No! I hadn't a clue!" I would never have imagined receiving, let alone wished for, a calling like this right now. But I accepted the calling anyway. Since then I've been remembering the feelings that there was something the Lord wanted me to do. I guess if I had been more sensitive I might have known this was coming. I won't be called officially for about four more weeks so hopefully I'll have some time to get used to the idea. I'm currently serving as Primary chorister and our Primary Program in Sacrament Meeting that we have been preparing for all year is in three weeks, so I won't be released from that until the program is over and done with.
I spent most of yesterday afternoon and evening either on my knees or with a prayer in my heart, grateful that I was already fasting, pleading for the guidance that I will need to serve in this calling. I'm already feeling more comfortable with the concept, and I'm starting to come up with ideas of things I'd like to do in that capacity. The bishop told me in our meeting yesterday that they felt strongly that I was the person the Lord wanted to serve in this calling, and since then I have felt the Spirit witness to me that this is so, but I still feel overwhelmed by the idea. I know that I will need the Lord's guidance in this. Maybe this is why the Lord has given me this calling now--so I can learn to rely on him more. Maybe this is my season to grow nearer to Him, to better recognize his promptings for what they are, to learn how much I need Him and His guidance in all I do.
Sunday dawned bright and early with the cats trying to dig a hole under our bedroom door. I got up to keep the cats from waking Steven, who hasn't been sleeping well lately. I don't usually check email that early in the morning, but I did yesterday, and discovered that my Mom had sent out copies of testimonies that she had asked each of her children to write. I remembered writing mine a couple months ago, shortly after returning from the Pioneer Trek. We were told to write not only our testimony, but how we received it. I spent the next while reading through the testimonies of my siblings. I felt the Spirit strongly as I read, marveling at how differently the Lord confirms the truth of his gospel to each of his children, even within the same family. Some of my siblings grew up never really doubting the truth, firm in the faith of what they had been taught. Others doubted and struggled for years. But the hand of the Lord was apparent in each of their lives. I was grateful for my parents and others who had taught me and helped me to develop my testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I finished reading them with my own testimony strengthened, and with a prayer in my heart for those of my siblings who are still struggling to know the truth, to recognize the promptings of the Spirit for what they are, to know of the great love that the Lord has for them.
At church yesterday, I was approached by the executive secretary asking if Steven and I could meet with the bishop for a few minutes. I agreed, without any idea what the bishop would want. We met with him after church, and he asked me if I would accept a calling that I felt entirely inadequate for. I think I must have given him a "deer in the headlights" kind of look for a minute or two. I've always been taught never to decline a calling. "Who the Lord calls he qualifies." The bishop asked me if I had known something like this was coming, and my immediate response to him was "No! I hadn't a clue!" I would never have imagined receiving, let alone wished for, a calling like this right now. But I accepted the calling anyway. Since then I've been remembering the feelings that there was something the Lord wanted me to do. I guess if I had been more sensitive I might have known this was coming. I won't be called officially for about four more weeks so hopefully I'll have some time to get used to the idea. I'm currently serving as Primary chorister and our Primary Program in Sacrament Meeting that we have been preparing for all year is in three weeks, so I won't be released from that until the program is over and done with.
I spent most of yesterday afternoon and evening either on my knees or with a prayer in my heart, grateful that I was already fasting, pleading for the guidance that I will need to serve in this calling. I'm already feeling more comfortable with the concept, and I'm starting to come up with ideas of things I'd like to do in that capacity. The bishop told me in our meeting yesterday that they felt strongly that I was the person the Lord wanted to serve in this calling, and since then I have felt the Spirit witness to me that this is so, but I still feel overwhelmed by the idea. I know that I will need the Lord's guidance in this. Maybe this is why the Lord has given me this calling now--so I can learn to rely on him more. Maybe this is my season to grow nearer to Him, to better recognize his promptings for what they are, to learn how much I need Him and His guidance in all I do.
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