Tomorrow's a big day at church. After 6 months of having the counselors run the show, we're finally getting a new bishop. I already feel sorry for how swamped he'll be with a 6 month backlog to tackle--assuming it's not one of the counselors.
I have a new calling: Relief Society Secretary. I've pimped my office skills over the years, but never like this. It involves a lot of paper work, a lot of nose counting, a lot of data entry.
The Visiting Teaching coordinator hasn't been functioning lately, so the VT reporting/nose counting also falls to me. And they want me to do a newsletter, which I'd be more excited about except that I did the newsletter in my last ward for SIX YEARS.
In my last ward, this amount of work was done by three people. I'm already worn out and I've barely started. I'm sure my face registered shock in this week's presidency meeting when the RS president initially suggested a weekly newsletter.
I tried to don a poker face when she had us recite the RS motto together and asked us to think about reciting it in RS every week. Gack. And I squirmed at the suggestion that we think about going to the temple as a presidency.
So far, my role appears to be mainly stenographic. I thought I'd get to teach the first Sunday lesson, but I'm not in the rotation with the rest of the presidency.
I also transgressed by wearing pants to the presidency meeting Thursday. Apparently, we need to be in church dress in case we go visit women after the meeting. How much does wearing a skirt matter to God or the women we're visiting and trying to serve?
Some friends have suggested that I'm there to loosen up a wound-tight presidency and unrigidify some of their views. Can I do that wearing pants?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Wear pants, suggest the newsletter be monthly, don't go to the temple for the sake of going with the R.S. presidency (besides, isn't that a SIX HOUR drive to Houston?), tweak the VT coordinators nose into place and kick her butt up around her ears, and keep on derigidfying.
Seriously--God isn't going to give a rat's you-know-what if you show up in pants. He's just gonna be happy you showed up. I remember the first time I attended the Berkeley University Ward and Tania Lyons was wearing a seafoam green suit that included PANTS. OMG! I think I probably blanched in the first five seconds, but than I got over it ASAP and thought, "Good for you, whoever you are!" (We hadn't been introduced yet.) I did the same thing when I went to my first Berkeley Institute activity and they served COCA-COLA!!! Aaaaaah. Got over that one pretty quickly, too, since I've always thought Mormon consumption of caffeinated beverages is hypocritical anyway. Come on folks: let's get over it. We all do it and the WOW doesn't say we can't, so stop pretending it does and chug away. Where's my Dr. Pepper, by the way??
I say, keep throwing them for a bit of a loop. It'll be good for their self-righteousness (which is likely to only get worse as Mitt Romney throws his hat in the ring. I'd like to think that last bit is totally unrelated to everything else I've just ranted about--and sorry about that, by the way--but it isn't. You may have to dust off your "I don't do politics in church" hat yet again.)
Okay, rant over.
I don't have a problem with the VT coordinator being too overwhemled to function. (She moved to the area to care for her aged/sick parents--and we're her home teachers). She's asked to be released and in her shoes, I'd probably do the same.
What I do have a problem with is the RS pres saying "Oh, Sister Stevens will just take care of those VT reports." Or whatever.
I'd rather see the RS pres let go of someone who cannot do the calling and get someone who can--not drop it in MY lap. I feel like a one-woman default setting.
"One-woman default setting" is a very good way to put it. You just have to keep clear on your boundaries, and keep reinforcing them. They will not limit what falls to you - I think, unfortunately, you will have to do that.
And wearing trousers to church or church functions is always fine, even if people initially get a bit twisted up about it. What a silly thing to get worked up over, really.
PS - Go to the temple as a presidency?? I can't think of a single reason to do that...?
Perhaps you could suggest to the RS President that she might be doing Sister VT Coordinator a favor by respecting her request and releasing her. I can't think of any calling more difficult and time-consuming than properly caring for an ailing parent. No doubt, as you point out, Sister VTC would be relieved and consider it an answer to prayer to be released.
As for the rest: what Di says.
I can only imagine the stress level the VT coordinator has, with her father in and out of the hospital, and having to be a full-time caregiver and advocate even when he's in the hospital. (We visited them in the hospital when she was instructing the nurse on how to properly fill his feeding tube).
Next time RS pres mentions it, I'll suggest calling someone whose home life is less of a giant, stressful question mark that we're making worse by insisting she do a calling that she clearly can't do. It would be far kinder to release this poor woman than to keep her in there hoping the situation will miraculously change.
Post a Comment