Where to begin???

Let me go back to mid-October when my youngest son, Yeti (age 21, formerly known as Arctic Boy), returned home from his LDS church mission to Cambodia. He came home, reconnected with his best friend/girlfriend, LeArtist, who had been waiting for him and writing to him on the hush-hush-down-low, and they were engaged by Thanksgiving in November. They originally planned to get married in April, after LeArtist graduated with her degree in plant science (yeah, she’s super-smart), but sometimes our plans are not God’s plans, and He intervened to tell them to get married sooner. Like January 2^nd sooner. (ohmygoodness!)

All my sympathies to her mom, but I am SO GLAD, I was not the mother-of-the-bride and having to plan a wedding that fast. One thing’s for sure. You spend less money when you don’t have a lot of time to “create” a Pinterest-style wedding. Just keep it simple and git-‘er-done. Which fortunately, was what the two of them wanted anyway.

So yeah, we had:

• Missionary Return
• Build a Gym Shed
• Halloween Dead-and-Breakfast
• Engagement of Yeti and LeArtist
• Thanksgiving
• And then – The Accident. Oh, this was SO AWFUL. Meigi’s boyfriend got into a terrible car accident when he swerved to avoid hitting a deer on his drive back down to Dixie State University after Thanksgiving. He big-time crushed his thumb, had a serious concussion, and fractured a vertebra in his neck. We are all so glad he’s still ALIVE. He should be dead, but instead is expected to make a full recovery, as long as the surgery and pins in his thumb do their jobs. Some angels were putting in extra duty that day. I’m calling him Deerslayer now.
• Yeti’s wedding planning, invitations done, etc.
• And then— Meigi got engaged to Deerslayer a few days before Christmas. They will be getting married in May. Hooray for time! What a precious commodity. Yesterday, we were able to actually reserve a location for the reception at a beautiful place that wasn’t already booked solid for May.

Back to the list now –

• Christmas, and all it’s parties and events.
• Meigi got a promotion to Dietary Manager at the Physical Rehab facility where she works. It’s been HUGE. She’s working 10+ hours a day with not enough time in the kitchen where she loves to be, so it’s putting a lot of stress on her, but this is only until she gets married. I hope things settle down for her well before then. She’s trying to hire several more people to work in the kitchen, but here in Utah anyway, there are 8 jobs for every available person, so finding qualified people is challenging. Qualified as in, able to read a recipe and follow it, and able to work weekends (because people recovering from injuries and surgery need food on Saturday and Sunday, too). After the wedding she’s moving, so she sees this job as a way to improve things for everyone else on her team at work, and hopefully whoever comes after her will see the wisdom in maintaining the processes and procedures she’s establishing right now. When she moves to join Deerslayer, I know she’s going to want to be back working in a kitchen somewhere, preferably at a restaurant. At any rate, trying to plan her wedding while working so much is hard on her. Add to that the fact that Deerslayer is going to a school that’s 4 hours away = STRESS.

Ahh, January. Once Yeti’s wedding happened, things settled down. At least I thought they would.

• Ms. Electric and her husband, The Chemist, officially adopted his niece and got sealed together as a family for time and eternity in the Draper, Utah LDS temple. That was a WONDERFUL DAY!
• I’ve been excited about some new directions we’re going in my church’s young women’s program, and focusing on arrangements for Meigi’s wedding.
• Then Mr. Hot Stuff’s mom (his parents live with us), had some trouble with her neck and shoulders and needed some extra help, because she can’t drive with that kind of pain. Actually, I don’t know how you live with the level of pain she’s been in. But what other choice is there, right? I’m just so glad they are here with us where it’s easy to just run downstairs to take care of things, or do a quick grocery run for them. She’s had so many doctor appointments, I don’t know how she stands it. I take her to them and listen to the doctors say, “Oh yes, we can help you,” and then they realize that she is allergic to 98% of their magic pills, and have to back-track everything and come up with plan N (for Nothing else will work).
• And THEN. I got released from my calling as the Young Women’s President in my ward (congregation). This was a surprise I hadn’t expected, since usually a person serves in this position for several years before being replaced, and I’ve only been in for a year.

Let me do a quick explanation here. In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), no one gets paid for the work they do at the church. Instead, “callings” are given to people with the understanding that they will do their best to help out in a designated area. Someone may be “called” to serve in the Sunday nursery, working with children between 18 months and three years old. Another person is called to lead the singing during the worship service, another is called to play the piano or organ during that time. Another person is called to teach the five-year-olds in Primary classes on Sunday. Another person is called to be the Primary President, and make sure that all the children between ages 18 months through 11 years old have teachers on Sunday. And so on. My calling was to direct the program for girls (young women) between the ages of 12 and 18.

Here’s the thing about service in the LDS church. When you give it freely, from the heart, with sincere effort, it becomes a true labor of love. I would do almost anything to help or protect the young women I have been serving. To be unexpectedly removed from that responsibility is earthshaking. My calling was the default focus of my brain, so my head feels an anxious emptiness without it. I wasn’t the only one replaced, either. Both of my counselors and secretary were also released from their callings, and it hit some of us harder than others. BUT I know that God is in the details. I LOVE the women who are replacing us, and I have a special friendship with the one who is replacing me. They love these young women with their whole hearts already and will lead them to great places. Possibly to places I could not have taken them.

So Stay Tuned. Eventually I’ll be given a new church responsibility. The thought of not knowing what it will be gives me a sense of anxiety, because you don’t get to choose these things. The bishop and his counselors pray and try to listen to the Spirit and then make callings based on the inspiration they receive. Rarely are you called to the thing you feel especially qualified to do. I suppose God cares about growth more than he cares about competency. It’s a miracle this church runs as well as it does.

Coming up, we have the birth of Ms. Electric’s baby boy in April, and then Meigi’s wedding after that. Busy times.

I’m thinking Mr. Hot Stuff and I need to go on a cruise after all this. Letting someone else plan a plethora of activities which are all completely OPTIONAL sounds kind of marvelous. Plus, I wouldn’t have to grocery shop or cook the food. SIGN ME UP.