Path to President

In March I ordered some choir music for the church choir to sing  during the 2014-2015 school year.  Even though I don’t teach anymore, my life still seems better organized in school years than in calendar years.  When I ordered it, Ed looked at me and asked, “How do you know you will still be the choir director?”  I laughed it off, but I had had a similar thought. 

Towards the end of March we started trying to buy a new house down in the older part of Lehi.  The seller was not responsive to our offer at all, which was quite frustrating.  At the beginning of April we went on a cruise with the Rice family.  When we got home from our cruise, we put in another offer on the house (which was also ignored) but I had a weird feeling that I was going to get a new calling.  Not just any calling either- I felt like I was going to be called as the President of either the Relief Society or the Primary.  I didn’t say anything to Ed, because really, how do you?  That is not how things work in the Church, so I stayed quiet.

In May Ed made a third offer on the house- without telling me about it until afterwards.  I was pretty mad about it and still had the odd feeling, but if you are moving you are going to get a new calling, so I wasn’t concerned.  The house issue was eclipsed by my explosion about Ed buying a car off Ebay for Reed that we had also not talked about.  It was a rough week.  The offer was finally accepted and we started getting really excited about the changes that we were going to make to the house.  There were a lot of issues, but we felt like we could deal with them- despite the fact that the seller wasn’t being entirely honest with us.

One night towards the end of May we went over to walk around the yard of the other house.  While we were there we met one of the neighbors who gave us a lot of new things to worry about.  All of a sudden we realized that there were additional issues with property lines and access that might land us square in the middle of a family battle- since this property is the first one that will leave a huge block of family property.  As we were leaving, one of my former colleagues saw us in the driveway and stopped to talk.  She had another lady with her who, in the course of casual conversation, said that she had just been released as Relief Society president and was now the Primary pianist. I got a gut twist at that moment that maybe my calling wasn’t in the new ward.  Still. . . when your husband is totally committed to the idea of moving and you have agreed to do whatever he wants, how do you bring up that issue?

On Wednesday night of the last week of May, Scott Carlson stopped us out in the street to ask if he had permission to call Reed to the Stake Youth Committee.  We said yes- thinking it would be a short calling.  When Reed was issued the call a few minutes later, Brother Carlson specified that it was a two year calling.  We didn’t say anything.

On Friday night May 30^th Parker graduated from high school.  We had a party and the Egglestons were invited.  In true Cathrine fashion, it slipped out that we were moving.  I saw a stricken look on the Bishop’s face and thought it was weird that just a few minutes later I received a text from the Ward Clerk asking if the Bishop could meet with us on Sunday at four. Since the Bishop was still at our hosue, I knew it was an odd “coincidence.”  I was pretty sure I knew what was coming.

Sunday, June 1^st Bishop Eggleston showed up and looked quite nervous.  He said, “I’m not sure what to do.  This has never happened before.  I am supposed to call you to be the Relief Society President, but I know you are buying another house.”  I told him that I wasn’t sure what had taken him so long, but that he should hold off on making an official call until we could talk about it.  That was not an easy couple of days.  I knew what I was supposed to do, but Ed had his heart set on that house and Reed had his heart set on the new puppy I had promised him.  Ed was pretty frustrated because he felt like the call came out of the blue and was maybe an attempt to just keep us in the ward.  I felt bad because I had not shared any of my promptings, so although I was not surprised at all, he was caught off guard.  After Reed slammed around for a few days, I realized what the problem was and Miss Eleanor Roosevelt came into our lives.  Ed gave me permission to accept the calling saying, “How can I play “I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go for prelude music and then not be willing to do it?”

We walked away from the house citing many of the concerns that we had that the seller had not been forthright about.  All of a sudden he was in a big hurry to fix things, but some of the items were much too big for a quick fix.

So. . .  five weeks after the original call, I am now the Relief Society President of the Cedar Hollow 7^th Ward.  I have great counselors in Jayme Anderson and Torey Forbush and two great secretaries in Heidi Markland and Marilyn Robinson to keep things moving in the right direction.  It has been a difficult month, but I feel that I have grown a lot closer to Heavenly Father and I am already starting to truly love each and every sister in the ward.   It is such a relief that it is no longer a secret- that was tough.  Now we can get to work.    

Bow the Knee

A few weeks ago Parker was asked to speak in Church today.  Then a couple of weeks ago it was announced that this week would be Fast and Testimony Meeting due to General Conference next week.  Parker's talk was moved to last Sunday, which turned out to be perfect since he was having surgery this week.

Parker is not what you would call "an open book."  He keeps things close and he has to be pumped for information.  He told me that for his talk he could use "For the Strength of Youth."  I figured that was safe and never gave it another thought.  Until he stood up in Church and announced that he had been given a topic but he had felt prompted to go another direction.  He used "For the Strength of Youth" and he talked about physical and mental health and avoiding extremes- such as obesity AND anorexia.  He talked about drugs and their impact here on the youth of Lehi.  He did a good job, he did not embarrass us, and I didn't really think about it any more than that.

But over the week I have had several people mention that they though Parker's talk was great.  They noticed that he only had a brief outline and that he spoke from the heart.  They thought he presented himself well and that it was great information that they hadn't thought about in a Church way.  Yesterday three people mentioned his talk, but one person took me by surprise when she mentioned that she was impressed by Parker's courage in taking on such a difficult topic and making such a strong stand.  I hadn't thought about his talk in that way.

Then today Sis. Bennett, who just happens to be the Bishop's daughter, gave an assigned talk on preparing for General Conference.  Just when I though she was going to finish, she said that she had struggled all week with her talk and suddenly yesterday she was impressed with what she was going to say.  She talked about self-harm and self-mutilation- and had already cleared it with the Bishop.  It was an in-your-face, take-no-prisoners kind of talk that you rarely hear in Church. She mentioned that she was encouraged by Parker's talk and felt the topic needed to go further.

And then the Choir had to sing.  I had chosen a piece that we sang last year and was a little uncomfortable with the choice.  I spend a LOT of time listening to music and pondering about what lessons we are supposed to teach through music.  At the same time, I want to keep my choir moving forward musically so I try to not repeat music.  This particular piece is called "Bow the Knee" and it has a powerful message.  In fact, at choir rehearsal almost the whole choir had tears streaming down their faces as we practiced it.

I was just fine and thinking about the logistics of the piece.  I gave the downbeat and was suddenly overcome by the first few chords.  I shook it off- I had work to do! As we reached the middle of the piece, I was once again overwhelmed by the Spirit with the sure knowledge that this song, on this day, was EXACTLY what the Lord wanted.  The puzzle pieces fell together.  This was the message of hope for the people who were struggling with the issues that Parker and Carina had discussed.  They were in the congregation and they needed to have this balm.

I was overwhelmed.  I only remember a couple other times in my life where the Lord spoke so clearly to my soul.  I broke down- while conducting!  Luckily the Choir kept going and they were great.  I'm a little embarrassed by the strength of my reaction, but the inspiration and weight of the situation came so suddenly that I could not prepare for it.  

I know that the Lord loves us and wants us to be happy.  He understands what we need and when we need it and He can make things happen for His own purposes.   He uses music to speak and to teach.  He understands our struggles and our pain and his will make it all work for our benefit and His glory- if we will let Him.

The Best Mother's Day Yet!

Those of you who know me well know that I absolutely hate Mother's Day.  First off, my mom is gone, so I just get sad thinking about how she isn't here.  And then there is church.  Although I know that the purpose of talks about moms is to be encouraging, it just backfires every year.  I usually come away from the Sunday Services feeling like a total and complete failure as a mom.  This general feeling is compounded by discussions of great stay-at-home moms (Hey!  I LIKE working!!!)  and quotes about how no success compensates for failure in the home. (Hey!  I am not solely responsible for failures in the home!!!) 

So. . .  this year we may have found a solution.

This Mother's Day was also our Stake Conference.  For those of you who are not LDS, this is a twice-a-year two hour service where we take 6-7 congregations and shove them into one building so that our regional leaders can speak to us.  They are usually wonderful meetings. . . if you get there at least an hour early to get a soft seat in the chapel so that you can hear what is going on.  Clearly we could not have 100% attendance or there would not be enough seats for everyone, so this year we decided to serve others by staying home.  (How is THAT for justification???)

I slept until 9:20am.  I got up and laid around in my jammies until the middle of the afternoon- well after I had eaten Ed's wonderful "Big Breakfast."  I was presented with a new office chair for my desktop computer that Parker put together.  I hardly know what to do with a chair that sports two arms!  I've only had one for so long that this is a real treat.  By the time I showered, dressed, and played a couple of games of Scrabble with Norm (the computer's name on my iPad) it was time for a very nice dinner.  Very yummy.  The day ended with a reception for Nate Seamons at the school.  That was great, too.  Except for the cupcake crumbs that I had to scrape out of the carpet. 

All in all, it was a lovely Mother's Day.  I got lots of hugs and snugs and I relaxed.  I think I'll be skipping church next year, too. . . whether or not it is Stake Conference!  But don't tell the Bishop. . . we will let it be a surprise!

A Milestone Reached

Ed and I had an interesting experience in church on Sunday- we found ourselves sitting alone. Reed turned 12 on the 19th and was ordained as a Deacon. This past Sunday, December 27, was his first day passing the Sacrament. It was an amazing experience to hear Colby bless the Sacrament and then to watch Parker and Reed pass the Sacrament to the congregation.

This is the first time ever that we have had two children in the same "group" at church with both Parker and Reed being in the Deacon's Quorum. It won't last too long because Parker will turn 14 in May, but I think they are enjoying it! This morning they had to be at Brother Lemon's house at 7:15 to go to the Temple to do Baptisms for the Dead. This was Reed's first time at the Temple.