Change. (And I'm not talking about nickels and dimes).

I am, I think, at a point of significant change in my life. So, today being Sunday, I have spent some time thinking about "change" and the significance it has.

First: a warning. This will be a pretty weird post by me. Feel free to skip it. If you decide to disregard this warning and read it, you will end up with a view into my thoughts and musings, and that can be pretty scary!

I do some pretty weird things when I am considering some of my feelings. Sometimes I like to Google the subject and while doing this tonight I came up with a couple of interesting (to me) observations.

The first is a Wikipedia entry about Greek philosopher named Heraclitus. I think that everyone is acquainted with the saying that "There is nothing as constant as change". I guess that Heraclitus is the person credited with originally coming up with that saying. According to Wikipedia he actually said "Nothing endures but change", but it has also been translated as "There is nothing permanent except change" or "The only constant is change".

The second is a quote by an unknown person. I looked and looked for the author but was never able to find who originally said it. There were lots of websites that made reference to the quote, but when it was attributed, it was always "Author Unknown". The quote is: "If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies". I thought that was pretty profound.

There are several things that have caused me to think about change today. Jason may or may not be looking to change his employment in the next month or so. Dan & Janelle and their family will be leaving us in about 2 months to live for 4 months in Gary, Indiana as he tries his hand at selling security systems. Matt & Kathie and their family are considering (as I understand it, no decision has been made YET) going with Dan & Janelle. And today I was released as the membership clerk in the YSA Ward that I have served in for the last 3.5 years.

The last change I mentioned has probably made me look at hardest at the changes occurring in my life. I served for about 1.5 years as the financial clerk to Bishop Woolley. I then served almost 9 years as a clerk in the Stake, first as financial clerk and then as Stake Computer Specialist. I had a year away from clerking, serving as the 2nd assistant in the Ward High Priest Group leadership, and then I received the call that I was released from today. So I can say that for pretty much 14 of the last 15 years I have been serving as a clerk.

I don't anticipate serving soon again in a clerking capacity (of course, nobody knows Heavenly Father's plans for them). I do want to serve where the Lord wants me to serve, but the last 3 months were pretty hard for me. I feel like I did not finish the race at a full sprint, but that I barely stumbled across the finish line. I was burnt out from being a clerk. I am embarrassed to say that. I feel like I did not "magnify" the calling for the last 3 months. I've known Bishop Arnell for probably 18 years and I felt that I let him down, too.

I am excited about the new Bishop. It is my best friend, Tom. He struggled a bit as the Spirit whispered to him that he would receive this call, but was able to put his trust in the Lord and is now looking forward to serving in this capacity.

So, as this is a season of change for me, maybe I can turn this into a positive and serve valiantly. If I had my choice, I would like to teach a youth Sunday School class, so that I could attend High Priest group meeting during priesthood time. But I will serve where Bishop Rascon and his counselors feel impressed to call me to serve.

Maybe I can also do some work on getting into better shape, losing some weight, and being a better grandpa, father, husband and person.

And maybe, just maybe, when you read this blog a year from now, you will see the change that started today was the beginning of my metamorphosis!