I Got Released!

July 6th--Today is Sunday and I was officially released from my calling as Primary President. I've known since Wednesday but today it all sunk in. The ward split last week and most of my presidency went to the new ward. The bishopric felt it was time to release me rather than construct a new presidency all over again. I must say it came as, somewhat, a relief. I've enjoyed this calling quite a bit. There have been many trials and frustrations but none of them can compare to the joy I felt serving the children of our ward. I love them all dearly. I'm thankful for the many people that served and continue to serve in the Primary. I feel kind of an emptiness now. This has basically become a part-time job with all the time put into it but I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. The blessings that have come from this calling are all around me. I see how my marriage has been strengthened even more. I have a better understanding and relationship with my children. I feel more confidence in myself and my abilities. I see the importance of creating a foundation of the gospel for my children, the efforts put into building that foundation are so simple and really don't take much time. Both Brady and Elise seem to grasp all the gospel concepts quite easily, I am truly amazed. I see how important it has become to receive frequent priesthood blessings and I'm thankful to have a worthy priesthood holder as my husband to give one to me at any time--usually late at night. I've discovered that, with any calling, you will be blessed far more than you can imagine. To see the blessings and understand them you have to have faith and courage to recognize them and then you'll see that the blessings are all around you and so very obvious.
I'm ready to, again, take on another calling, should there be one in mind for me now, but I also have some personal goals that have been on hold since Brady's diagnosis and then receiving this calling shortly after. I feel I have time to focus on those goals now. Nate and I received a confirmation of the Spirit, last November, that our family is not quite complete. I remember sharing the answer to our prayers with my dad, at Thanksgiving time. He seemed to get a little emotional and expressed a feeling, he has, that there is still another child waiting to join our family. He wasn't sure which one of his children this child was to come to but was happy that one of us received a confirmation of it. He even shared the gender he felt this child is but we'll wait and see! As we find ourselves getting more comfortable with our current family routine, we realize it will be harder and harder the more we wait so we will be working on another addition to our family soon. Our procrastination has been selfish but if it happens, we know it's meant to be. We're ready for whatever our Father in Heaven has in store for our family.