They say that when you are called to be a bishop one of two things happens; 1) you are either completely surprised when the call comes, or 2) you knew all along. For my husband and I it was the latter. For months now we have had many signs that is was coming. It is a funny predicament though because on the one hand you feel prideful and think that your promptings mean that you were aspiring to the call and on the other hand you feel anxious like if it is going to happen could it please just happen. Tuesday night the bandaid was ripped off, and my husband was called to be the bishop of a new ward in our stake. It will be a combination of 5 different wards. We are seriously humbled and in awe at the Lord's plan for our lives.
In the LDS church we are told not to aspire to leadership callings, we are a lay ministry, meaning there are no paid positions. We are counseled repeatedly that every calling is important and we should't aspire to leadership rather we should aspire to be more Christlike, more loving, more compassionate, more covenant keeping individuals, etc. Aspiring to be a better person is what the Lord wants of each of us.
I can remember years ago looking at the calling of a Bishop or other leadership positions and thinking I was as good as the next person. I wondered once why my husband and I hadn't been chosen for a particular position. How clueless was I!!! As I have aged I have come to realize that the Lord prepares you for these positions. It requires so much more than a level head or even experience. It requires a humble heart, and an understanding that nothing of this magnitude can be done without the Lord. We truly are nothing without Him!
Back in April I was called as the Relief Society Pres. in our ward. It took me quite literally as a surprise, I didn't think I was leadership material. I am a worker bee. I get in and work hard and get things done. When I was called as the Pres. I was counseled to not be a worker bee any longer. My calling now required me to step back and inspire others to work. I gained a strong testimony of the importance of each calling in the church and through personal experience realized that without each individual person doing his and her calling the work of the Lord could never go forward. I loved how much I grew and improved as an individual as I learned how to be a better leader but more importantly a better disciple of Christ regardless of what the Lord asked me to do.
So, we are past the back ground info. and here we are today, 2 1/2 weeks away from my husband now being a Bishop. I was pondering how much things are going to change and I had this thought that I needed to blog about it. Maybe I was inspired by the new Meet the Mormons movie. Maybe my normal and crazy and sometimes frustrating life will help other people to see how much the Lord qualifies those he calls, as well as calls those who aren't perfect and that he must qualify. We, the Leonards, are a normal family. We have our strengths, and our weaknesses. We love to eat, we love a nice home, we love to read our scriptures as a family, we love to go to the temple. I hope that something I say and do over this next 5 year journey will help someone, but if not, putting it on paper will certainly help me.
In the LDS church we are told not to aspire to leadership callings, we are a lay ministry, meaning there are no paid positions. We are counseled repeatedly that every calling is important and we should't aspire to leadership rather we should aspire to be more Christlike, more loving, more compassionate, more covenant keeping individuals, etc. Aspiring to be a better person is what the Lord wants of each of us.
I can remember years ago looking at the calling of a Bishop or other leadership positions and thinking I was as good as the next person. I wondered once why my husband and I hadn't been chosen for a particular position. How clueless was I!!! As I have aged I have come to realize that the Lord prepares you for these positions. It requires so much more than a level head or even experience. It requires a humble heart, and an understanding that nothing of this magnitude can be done without the Lord. We truly are nothing without Him!
Back in April I was called as the Relief Society Pres. in our ward. It took me quite literally as a surprise, I didn't think I was leadership material. I am a worker bee. I get in and work hard and get things done. When I was called as the Pres. I was counseled to not be a worker bee any longer. My calling now required me to step back and inspire others to work. I gained a strong testimony of the importance of each calling in the church and through personal experience realized that without each individual person doing his and her calling the work of the Lord could never go forward. I loved how much I grew and improved as an individual as I learned how to be a better leader but more importantly a better disciple of Christ regardless of what the Lord asked me to do.
So, we are past the back ground info. and here we are today, 2 1/2 weeks away from my husband now being a Bishop. I was pondering how much things are going to change and I had this thought that I needed to blog about it. Maybe I was inspired by the new Meet the Mormons movie. Maybe my normal and crazy and sometimes frustrating life will help other people to see how much the Lord qualifies those he calls, as well as calls those who aren't perfect and that he must qualify. We, the Leonards, are a normal family. We have our strengths, and our weaknesses. We love to eat, we love a nice home, we love to read our scriptures as a family, we love to go to the temple. I hope that something I say and do over this next 5 year journey will help someone, but if not, putting it on paper will certainly help me.
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