It's been over two months since I did a post, and the reality has been that I've just been too busy... But things are slowing down for the year, so hopefully I can catch up on the news that I've missed, especially with my kids. I've been making notes and taking photos so it's just getting a chance to sit down and blog it all.
But just before I went AWOL someone responded to all my news about my kids asking how I'M doing. So I thought I'd catch you all up on my life a bit.
I came back to work on 13 September, 4 days after my last post, and almost 2 months ago now. And that was definitely a huge contributing factor to my silence. Thankfully I can honestly say that coming back was not at all traumatic. When I went back to work after having Joshua I really struggled at first, and was never really happy until I finished my articles. I think that coming back to UCT has definitely made a huge difference. And I think that all working moms with more than one child will say that it's easier the second time because you know what it's like being a working mom, and you know that your child will be okay. Having Hannah going to the same day mother as Joshua, who I know that I can trust completely, also made a huge difference in my peace of mind.
I came back at a hectic time of year, with things building up to the climax of the final exams. But I've just finished my marking (finally) and now it's pretty much planning for next year, finishing my work on the textbook I'm helping with and a few other projects. But nothing like the mad frenzy I've felt for the last little while. Not that the work I've been doing has been so hectic, but it's been the work on top of everything else that has been a bit much at times.
The other work related thing is that I applied for a permanent position as a lecturer at UCT, and after a mock-lecture presentation that I had to do, and a reasonably gruelling interview, I was appointed, along with a few other contract employees and some new staff. It's great to have that out of the way now. And it's only when I apply for promotion in a few years (after I do my Masters) that I'll have to go through something like that again.
So that's pretty much me on the work front. In terms of my calling at church we've been preparing for our annual Primary presentation, which will be this Sunday. All of the kids have parts to say, and there are 9 songs that I've been teaching them and hopefully they'll do me proud. I must say that they've managed to bring me to tears every year I've been involved, and I hope that they'll do the same again this year ;o)
And then the big news in terms of Church is that Andrew was called as the Bishop of our ward at the beginning of October.
Just to explain, in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints we have a lay clergy. So all of our leadership have regular jobs and then do their Church work in addition to it. As a result you will hold any calling for a limited period of time, and then move onto something else so that the heavy callings are not permanently on a single person. The average period of time that a Bishop serves for is 5 years, although our previous Bishop had served for 8 years. I hope that Andrew's time will be more towards average ;o)
None of our leaders have a formal theological qualification like happens in many other churches. Rather you become "qualified" through your faithfulness, experience and through your personal study. But then you rely very much on the Spirit to make up the difference. We believe that all callings are decided on through revelation and inspiration, so it is literally the Lord who is calling you to whatever responsibility you have, and "whom the Lord calls, He qualifies".
Most callings in the Church are decided on at a local level, so for a ward calling the Bishop and his counsellors will pray to know who should fill each position, and the Stake Presidency will pray about Stake callings etc. But the calling of a Bishop is unique, in that every Bishop who is called around the world (and there are over 20 000 wards worldwide) is recommended by the local Stake Presidency, but their names are then submitted to the Prophet and his counsellors and they will authorise the call (and I know of at least once when the First Presidency sent back to say that the name submitted was not correct and the Stake leadership had to relook at it). It's quite something to know that President Monson, who we sustain as a Prophet, personally signed off on Andrew's call.
The members do then give a sustaining vote by showing an uplifted hand whenever a name is presented for any calling, so everything is done by common consent, and it's not like a decision is made and then inflicted on the members.
You don't "apply" for any positions for the Church, and we certainly did not look for this calling. I think that when we got the phone call asking us to come and meet with the Stake President both of us had very sinking hearts, because we both know deep down what the interview was going to result in. No one who has ever been a Bishop, or had one in their family, will tell you that it's easy. As we've spoken to other people though they tell us that the blessings are significant, and I think at times that may be all that keeps them, and often particularly the wives, going.
So what does all of this mean. Well, Andrew is now the spiritual leader of the 250 odd people who live within our ward, and he has ultimate responsibility for seeing that everything in the ward runs well. But delegation is a wonderful thing, and just about all of us have responsibilities that we need to carry out, so he doesn't have to do it all alone.
But there is lots of time sacrifice - we're literally being asked to live up to the covenant we've made to consecrate our time and talents to the Lord. Just this week: Monday Andrew went to visit a family, Tuesday was Youth, Wednesday he's hoping to be able to visit another family, Thursday is free at this point, but who knows, Friday he has to go to the Priesthood Preview for the new Deacons, Saturday morning I've got a Primary activity/practice, Saturday afternoon we're going to watch Annie at the Artscape ;o) and then Sunday he'll be home much later than us after church... So yes, I miss him already... We have to learn how to make maximum use of the time that he is home, and he's trying to do as much as possible after the kids go to bed etc, so that he still has time with them. And where it's practical and not something confidential we want to try and involve the kids, so we've gone as a family to visit a few people.
Up until last week he was having also to fit in studying in addition to everything else, but his exams are now over and hopefully he's passed them and then just has 2 more courses to do.
And I've already seen changes in Andrew, it's been amazing to see him settling into this role and the responsibilities that it brings. It's hard to put it into words, but he's almost "grown in stature". And in fact I saw these changes starting to happen even before he was called, but as he was being prepared by the Spirit for this. I know he'll be a good bishop - I married a good man.
So life is hectic, and I hope you understand why I haven't had time to tell you all about my life. Thankfully I have quieter times of year with my job, and I'm heading into one right now!
