That big job thing ...

You may recall that one of the things stressing me out last week was that our bishop had been hinting that a new calling would be heading my way. Well, it finally hit yesterday. I was asked to come to church a half-hour early, where I was called to serve as a member of the Elders' Quorum presidency. I will be released from my current position as finance clerk, and most likely also from my Sunday School position as well.

Um, for those not LDS (like, alomst all of you) some definition would help.

One of the facets of LDS life is being part of a lay clergy. No one gets paid to serve, except those who serve full-time, and they get a very modest stipend to cover expenses. That way, we serve because we want to serve, with no hope of monetary reward. Our bishop, for example, works at Cessna full-time, then spends hours a day managing the affairs of our congregation (called a ward). Just about every adult has some kind of position; here in Kansas, we usually have two or more.

Also, the men in the Church are grouped into quorums based on priesthood office they hold. Most men hold the office of elder, so they meet in Elders' Quorum. The president and his two counselors make sure the elders are doing their duties, like visiting ward members and being good fathers and husbands. No small task, to be sure. So, that's what I'll be doing now.

In a way, it'll be less time-consuming, as I won't have to spend hours after church every Sunday counting donations and writing checks. I'll be able to go to and from church with my family most every Sunday.

On the other hand, this will likely mean more meetings during the week, as we try to figure out what we're supposed to do and get about the business of taking care of so many men. Frankly, I have no idea what's in store, and it's that unknown that freaks me out.

Here's a thought ...

On the week that I have the following work/home things going on:

• Three unbelievably nit-picky IT security audits
• Health checking for Windows, Citrix, and SSH
• performance monitoring tool goes belly-up, and I'm the only one that can fix it
  
• Another round of Microsoft patches
• My turn to be the on-call sysadmin 7PM to 7AM
• School's out and the boys are hanging around the house all day
• Helping the wife out with a big campout for next month, with a pre-camp this weekend

DON'T get attitude when I dismiss you because I don't want your advertising on my yard. Contents under pressure, dude, capice?