A Night Among the Stars (November 2019)

Gourmet S'mores with the Laurels and Priests

So, no matter what else is going on in our lives, hanging out with the youth is always a common thread woven throughout.  And I have to say, I have grown to love it.  This calling has taught me so much about my strengths, my weaknesses, who I am as a leader, who I am as a person, and where I need to grow.  It has stretched me in so many ways, and yet been such a blessing in my life.  

Stripling Warrior Battle using Pool Noodles

Youth Temple Trip - Birmingham Alabama Temple

At the end of the year, the Young Women have a "Night of Excellence" to celebrate all they have accomplished during the year, goals they've reached, and how they've progressed.  And since the church would be starting a new youth program in January, this was probably going to be the last "Young Women in Excellence" ever!  The girls chose to make it an awards night of sorts with the theme, "A Night Among the Stars" and they did an amazing job with decorating, bringing food, announcements, the program, etc.

My main vision for this evening was that I wanted each girl to come away feeling that they were truly a beloved daughter of our Heavenly Father.  We asked the parents of each girl to write a paragraph entitled, "My daughter shines when . . . " telling about their daughters' talents and divine gifts, which we then displayed around the room along with a black-and-white picture.  We also had the girls choose awards for each other - friendliest, best smile, etc.  Aly got Hardest Worker for always being at Pounder's (which she was that night as well!) and Lise and Kate both received awards for their witty humor.  Must run in the family . . . 

As the girls came up to receive their award (along with a gold star necklace, picked out by the girls), they were each asked to speak 1-2 minutes on how they had grown as a daughter of God that year.  This was by far my favorite part.  I know that a lot of girls were nervous and do not like speaking in front of groups, but it was so amazing to hear each of their simple testimonies of how the gospel had affected their lives or how they had grown closer to their Heavenly Father and what being in Young Women's means to them.

As I was sitting there watching the program I felt a strong sense of love for the girls and gratitude for being able to serve with them.  I was also so grateful for the chance to serve at this time in my life when my own daughters are in the Youth program.  And I was also thinking about how far I had come in this calling, how I had come to find joy in it and how much I was going to miss it when we moved next summer . . . 

. . . Funny how the Spirit prepares you for things.  A few days after this program I received a call from Chris telling me that he had just been informed that we would not be moving to Tampa this summer after all.   Instead, he would be taking O-6 Command in Honduras for a year, unaccompanied, of course. (Apparently, the guy slotted for the job turned it down and they needed some who 1) Was an O-6 Command Selectee, 2) Had attended War College, 3) Spoke Spanish.  So off of a very short list, Chris was the guy.)  There were many things swirling in my head as he told me this:  Disappointment at yet another year-long deployment after just finishing one and a year of weekends only; gratitude that, since we have to do it anyway, we are in a place where the girls (and I) all have a good support system; wondering how and if all of our house maintenance and car troubles fit into this new development by helping us get things in good repair; and interested to see how this new twist will fit into Chris' career path and our journey as a family.  So yeah, while I'm not too excited about another year away from Chris, I have no doubt that the Lord is aware of our family and that He is blessing and preparing us, even as He asks us to do hard things.  Here's to another year as Young Women's President with my girls.  I am so grateful that the Lord provides us with what we need, not necessarily what we want, and helps us along the way.