After the Murmuring

In 1993, and while living in Tucson, Arizona, I was asked to work with the Young Women of the Church for the first time; specifically, the Laurels (ages 16-18).  It floors me now to have even considered it, but at the time, I really did not want that assignment!  In retrospect, I can't help but laugh and become a little misty-eyed, too, as I skate along my memory banks, reliving some of my experiences with this blessed group of girls.  As it turned out, this period of my life was to become one of my most favored, cherished, and sustainingly joyful seasons.  Funny, isn't it, that our views of so-called uninspired "mistakes" that leaders make at times culminate to land for our souls our grandest blessings?

My girls during this initial introductory time to the Young Women's program included: Andrea Greenwood, Michele Anglin, Heidi Luke, Heidi Martin, Sara Offen, Jaime Smith, Susannah Rexroat, Marisa Henderson, Jennifer Clark, Cassie Meadows, Joanna White, Julianna Smith, and Melanie Raehl.  Did I get everyone?  Well, one of these gals will remind me if I left out someone.

I'm laughing again.  I just wish I could recapture, for example, the craziness of Sara and Jaime, acting like foreign exchange students (or as a blind student) on the public bus.  We sure had some tender and tough times, too.   All in all, though, our shared experiences brought us about as close as a leader can be to any one group of girls.  I owe it all to them, too. 

Well, with that introduction, the following is a journal entry of mine that illustrates the struggle I experienced in letting go of one church calling to assume the responsibilities of another.  Perhaps only my former Young Women will be interested enough to read these pages.  I'm fine with that.  Not everyone can handle my verbosity.

CLICK EACH IMAGE TO ENLARGE.

To the Young Women mentioned above, and others whom I haven't mentioned, I offer an extreme debt of gratitude.  Oft-times, when I have trembled with certain doubts that have weighed upon my heart, I have been brought back to the relationships we enjoy, one with another.  Truly, I have been unalterably changed and repeatedly sustained because of my bond to each of you.  And to think that, in the beginning, I murmured.  Now, all I can seem to do is cry out in gratitude.

God bless your lives for the ways that you changed mine.  I love you all.