The blessings of THE CALLING

I do love my calling as Relief Society President. That might not always show.  I don't always love every little bit of the job, but I love the sisters a ton and I feel like I have the capacity to be a better person when this is all said and done.

Yesterday, I was telling Mr. Mormon some of the blessings that I've noticed from doing this job.  I decided I should record them somewhere so that when it seems tough, I can reflect on some of the goodness.

A few of the many blessings

1.  I have some seriously spooky discernment right now. Well, it should probably not be called "spooky" - I guess it's more "divinely inspired." More than once, months before an event happened, I have told Mr. Mormon what I felt would take place down the road. And these were very random, out of the ordinary, no-guessing-it-in-advance types of events.  I had no reason to suspect anything wonky was about to happen with these individuals. But Heavenly Father gave me a heads up and it made me much more calm in addressing the situation.  I (hope) instead of arriving to them in a state of shock, I've been able to address these sisters in a peaceful and level-headed way.  

2.  I now seem to have more hours in my day than any other person I know. It's been wild and I've commented on it many times to Mr. Mormon - and thought I'd share it here.  In the evening, when I review my days in my head, even I am sometimes shocked by all that was done in just short periods of time.

Yesterday, I had a Presidency meeting in the morning, took 3.0 to school, and found myself with one hour and 5 minutes free, if you counted the travel time to and from the school in that. 

Here's all that I did in that time.

1.  (From the school) called Mr. Mormon to check on a time for dinner

2.  Called the C-Dawg to confirm said dinner. Chit chatted because I LOVE CHERYLYN!

3.  Went home to get my recipe book - decided on dinner.

4.  Went to Publix to buy dinner.

5.  Came home - seasoned and browned roast.

6. Put all the groceries away.

7.  Finished the roast prep

8. Tidied the downstairs and cleaned the bathroom

9.  Tackled the very destroyed post-meeting playroom.

10. Threw a load of laundry in - folded a load.

11.  Called to check in on 2 sisters 

12.  Returned some emails

13. Re-made 3.0's bed and cleaned the upstairs bathroom.

14.   Raced out the door exactly on time to get 3.0 from school.

PHEW!

Another day, I remember needing to get a food order done but only having about an hour and  a half free.  Cherylyn and I dreamed up a plan and she took 2.0 and 3.0 for me - I drove the 15 minutes to the order, talked to the sister about nutrition, made a meal plan, completed the order, and came back to Cherylyn's and was done ahead of schedule.  It's like extra minutes have been added to my day.  I couldn't be more grateful!

3.  Getting to know the sisters has been a blessing and a half. I feel like I have 70 new best friends.  I walked into a birthday party of a neighbor and there were 2 of my Relief Society homeys.  (None of us knew the others were invited.)  Someone asked how we all knew each other and one of my friends said she knew one of the gals from church and said about me, "This is one of my best friends."

Prior to this calling, this girl and I were always friendly, but in light of this calling, we've had a lot more opportunities to be together and she's shared a lot about her life and her struggles with me.  It was a complete honor and a humbling experience to be called one of her best friends.

Additionally, because of this calling, I got to fall in love with Cherylyn and her darling family.  She has been a wonderful counselor who has told me the truth when it needed to be said and has been such a good, good friend and partner in crime, I mean, righteousness.  This calling has blessed me to make friends who will strengthen me forever.

4.  Perspective. Oh boy do I have a better perspective of life and what constitutes a trial now.  I thought I knew.  Now I know.

5.  I have always loved women and what women are able to accomplish. I'm so proud to be a wife, mother, and a woman. And I'm insanely impressed with what the women in my ward are able to accomplish. 

For almost 15 days, we needed babysitting for one family while one of their children was in the hospital and we had another sister moving (with her 3 kids) who needed her home cleaned and a lot of extra help (there is no dad in the picture there.) Then there was a third girl who needed babysitting and rides to and from school for 3 days. All of that was happening at the same time!

And the women of my ward did all of that - and they did extra!  They'd babysit for someone - and then bring them dinner for that night, as well.  One woman just called up another and insisted on cleaning some of her home. These gals will regularly phone to tell me they have some extra time that week if I need anything special done for anyone. The charity and compassion and industry of women continues to amaze me!

6.  I have known peace more greatly these past few months.  I think feeling peace is something you appreciate during a trial and then, as time passes, you forget what you enjoyed.  The roller coaster that is sharing with these women offers a lot of opportunities to plead for peace and to witness it in their lives.

It has been a (huge) blessing to me to not feel stressed or overwhelmed or scared by some of these women's trials.  Those feelings would have kept me from serving most effectively.

So - those are some of the blessings I've been noticing.  I appreciate that I have such a supportive family and I am able to serve right now.  Someday, I still hope to have a BIG FAT BREAK, but right now, I can't think of any place in the ward I'd rather be.