According
to my Cryptogram puzzles Pope Francis said “God Never gives someone a gift they
are not capable of receiving . . .” referring to the gift of Christmas, but I
took it to another level and posted the following to the RS page:
“God never gives us gifts
that we are not capable of receiving. He never gives us a calling that we are
unable to fulfill. If we are willing and ask in faith for His loving guidance
we can perform as an instrument in His hands. We can go from an unpopped kernal
to desirable popcorn that we were meant to be.”
The last part of the quote comes from Ben Wilcox “Come Follow Me” lesson for next week (here)
I know that there are people who
struggle with their callings as they feel inadequate in the position due to
their lack of knowledge or being able to relate to those they serve or those
they serve with. I do not foresee that
in my current position or presidency, but I know when I was initially called
back in 2018 there were some challenges that were in attendance. I’ve served with three different presidents
now and think we are at our best this year.
Some presidents have delegated with no
problem, others don’t seem to know the meaning of the word. Sometimes the calling we are given is to
serve those have trouble with delegating or handing the reigns to someone
else. Sometimes for those we serve. Often for ourselves.
My mom accepted all callings she was
asked to fulfill – often with a lack of enthusiasm or self confidence. She had taught in primary, nursery, cub
scouts and Relief Society and was diligent in her calling and always prayed for
guidance.
One year when my brother was about
eight or nine she had been called to teach his class. She had one rebellious youth who challenged
her as he needed discipline and she seemed to focus on that aspect of her
calling. She made an appointment to see
the bishop to ask if she could be released.
And then something amazing happened . . .
Now this is in the day of landlines
and long distant calls – costly at that.
She received a call one day (before her appointment with the bishop) and
it was another student from her class.
She had gone out of town to attend the funeral of a family member and
had been having a hard time with her emotions but then remembered something my
mom had taught her in primary. She was still
out of town when called my mom (long distant) to thank her for teaching her
about the Holy Ghost. It was a
confirmation to my mom that she needed to stay put in the primary class and not
focus so much on the poor behavior of one student when there were several
others who were learning.
My mom often compared herself to
others saying that she didn’t have the talent to lead music as well as Bro.
Smith and felt mortified if ever he walked by while she was leading music. Or teaching.
She didn’t have the same theological understanding of the scriptures as
our neighbor Peggy for instance. I would
get upset with my mom and lovingly scold her because she was called to lead the
music perhaps for her own growth – and I doubt that Bro. Smith ever thought, “I
could do this better. What was Heavenly
Father thinking allowing her to lead music?”
We all have our own talents and
abilities. We can’t all reach every
single person in the same manner that someone else might. I, for example, prefer the simplistic
teaching as opposed to the theological scholars who speak in four syllable words
and I have no idea what they’re talking about.
My brain is not that complex. Nor
was my mom’s.
One day she was teaching her lesson
and scolding herself for not knowing the lesson inside out, forwards and
backwards and with her eyes closed. At
the end of her lesson a member who had not been to church for several years
came up to her and thanked her for her simple lesson. It had been easy to understand.
“See,” I told my mom. I don’t recall my exact words but I reminded
her that we all have talents – some aren’t as polished as others, but that’s
okay. We are all here to learn and grow
together. Some might need a nudge to get
going. We all have potential.
The title of my blog post? I got that from a talk I read this morning. Elder Uchtdorf's talk to the general priesthood October 2008 here
