Blessed With Work
Chris is back at work, I'm in a busy season at the Nook running a big contest and ordering kits and I'm up to my elbows in a Quickutz design team project, and the kids are running to and fro doing school and friends. Scouts and piano start back up in the next week too. It would seem that we are officially all back online.
The most excited news that I have is that Chris and I both have new callings at church. I suppose I should explain that for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about.
Callings: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka Mormons) runs strictly on a lay ministry. This means that none of our bishops or Sunday school teachers or missionaries or anyone else gets paid to serve in the capacities to which they are called. To fill these positions, those in authority pray about who God wants to serve in which area.
This means the prophet prays about the apostles, they both pray about the general area authorities (people who manage the larger areas of the church, an area might cover a few states or a specific country), the apostles and area authorities pray together to decide who should be the Stake President (person over a smaller area, usually covering fewer than 5,000 members) and the Stake Presidency prays over who should be leading the individual wards/branches with in their area. (A ward has about 250-500 members, a branch is much smaller). A bishop leads the individual wards and a branch president leads a branch (my dad is a branch president right now). These men are responsible for the spiritual care of the people in their wards, and also making sure that any extenuating temporal needs are being cared for as well.
Our church functions in an orderly fashion, based on this revelation from God, through prayer, contemplation, and a confirmation of the spirit that the right person is serving in the right position. Your average church member will have many callings in his or her life. You do not have to accept a calling when it is given. It is encouraged that a person prays and contemplates for himself whether this is where God wants Him. We believe in personal revelation, in taking time to listen for the voice of the Spirit, and in letting the Lord direct your life. We believe that He is directly involved in our lives, that He loves us, and that we can ask for guidance and receive it.
Most people are happy to serve in different capacities. and I have found that by serving in various capacities I am blessed in two ways. I have an opportunity to serve others, and I have an opportunity to learn. In the past, I’ve taught classes, organized camp for our young women, served in the nursery, led music and choirs, and helped in compassionate service areas.
Chris and I are so excited to be able to be involved in our ward here! I have two callings, serving as a Sunday School teacher for 12-14 year olds, as well as being involved with our Young Women’s organization. I get to help them work on Personal Progress, which I am totally excited for!
Chris will be serving as the ward clerk. A ward clerk has a large and time consuming responsibility, and also many great opportunities. He is over finances, member records, and a sort of general manger, right hand man to the bishop in many capacities. He does have other people under him helping in all these areas. While it does involve a significant sacrifice of time, it comes with a lot of blessings. I’m thrilled that Chris will get to spend so much time with such good, Christ loving men. They will be a support to him. He will also get to learn a lot about how the church functions, and be part in some very neat spiritual experiences as things crop up that need his attention.
Chris and I keep getting condolences and apologies due to the time consuming nature of his calling paired with my responsibilities, but we are so excited to have the opportunity to serve, be involved and learn and grow that we aren’t worried. Work is a blessing. Service is a blessing. We feel blessed, not burdened!
If you have any questions about my faith, feel free to ask. I can do a Q&A in an upcoming post. If you want reading material to answer some questions check this out. It is a simple and concise overview of my basic beliefs. Those of you who have read my blog a lot know that I’m not shy about sharing my faith, but this is the first time I’ve invited questions, so if you have one, I will answer it.
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This is such an opportunity for the both of you. We have similar callings here in our church and it might be extra work but it is something you do with your own free will with no expectation. It feeds you spiritually and I believe that blessings will go your way
Honestly, no condolences here. I personally would hate if my hubby was called to be the ward clerk (although I know he is destined for many time-consuming callings), but that is my family. From what you have told me, I would be excited for your hubby too. He needs that time with so many good people in your ward and I hope that you both do amazing (as I know you will!). Have fun with it and continue to be grateful for it.
Yes, you will be busy but so blessed as well. You’ll love working with the youth and Chris will get some well-needed prep for when they make him Bishop
LG is so right, too.
We have only met once, but I don’t know that I have ever met someone as content and blessed as you are. You simply amaze and inspire me! So happy that you settling in to this new life in Rapid City!
congrats on your callings. I’ve worked with the YW and they are a treat! love your explanation of how the church functions, you are a good woman!
< ![CDATA[The good thing about your information is that it is explicit enough for students to grasp. Thanks for your efforts in spreading academic knowledge.
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Congrats on your callings, Leah
I’m curious why you’re not allowed to drink caffiene or alcohol? Just wondering!
Just was curious as to why you have another book in addition to the Bible? As a christian I don’t have another book that I read and believe in. Just trying to understand why your church dose’nt use just the Bible like other Bible believing churches. thank you
< ![CDATA[Hi Leah! I really love the way you talk about and celebrate your faith, especially the blessings in your life. Courtney's question was also mine, because I know that in the Bible it says not to add or take away anything of it ... so I was wondering what this means for you.
Thank you for your blog! And for sharing your faith so honestly and with real joy and simplicity.
From another Christian :)]]>
I spent three years as Primary president in my last ward. At first I was teirefird because I don’t have a lot of experience with children (my daughter was only 6 months old when I was called), but I really like working with the kids. Although, as others have pointed out, it can feel isolated since you don’t interact with other adults as much.I think the best thing to do with nursery is to keep it simple and keep it structured. Have a routine/schedule that you follow each week. Keep lessons and snacks simple (please, only water and relatively unmessy crackers). Please don’t do playdough! (Or paint, or glitter). The manual is actually pretty comprehensive and has lots of good ideas. You can also search online with the Friend and that’s a good source for things like coloring pages, puppets, games, poems, etc. One thing I like that my daughter’s Sunbeam class does is they print out on the coloring sheet each week what the theme of the lesson was and maybe a little follow up question. That might work best for older kids, but I like knowing what they talked about so we can review it that night in Family Home Evening. Make sure you have some singing time. If you feel like you need accompaniment, the manual should come with a CD of nursery songs and you can also get the Primary book on CD. I will admit that I’m probably too picky, but I don’t really like the songs we use in nursery right now. They have the Primary chorister come in, and she has a CD with a bunch of generic kids songs that she puts on and sings. I wish she would do more church songs, since Nursery is a church class and it’s a good opportunity for kids to start learning Primary songs. They can learn some of the easier ones, especially with actions or puppets to go with them (in my old ward they came up with some good finger motions for I Love to See the Temple and my daughter could sing it by two years old).