Bishop Rhead

I just felt like I needed to talk about the Bishop in our ward right now. His name is Daryl Rhead and he's about as quirky as they could possibly come. Let me explain... frequently, a conversation will just begin with him and you and you will already feel like you missed the first five minutes of the conversation... even though it just began. He speaks in a way that is like our stream of consciousness in our mind, but his is verbal. Another thing: as a side job, he's an auctioneer! Another: he renames peoples' kids... all the time. He called Jane Darral (somehow he made this sound feminine) Jaramillo (the last name of our good friends). I don't know why he does this, but he does. An even odder renaming: He called one kid in our ward Nueve ('9' in Spanish - the celestial language according to him). Why, you might ask, did he call him Nueve? Here is the explanation. This particular kid, about 2 years old, is stocky and thick and is just a hefty kid. Because of this, Bishop though he looked like a line-backer. In Bishops opinion, the best linebacker out there is Brian Urlacher, who wears number 54. 5 + 4 = 9. Nine in Spanish is Nueve, this makes perfect sense to him. Anyway, I'm certainly not writing this post to point out his numerous quirks, but he is quirky.

He has been our Bishop for almost 1.5 years. When he was called, I think a lot of people were surprised. I was. Few people would have picked him, if that's how it worked in the church. Fortunately these callings come from inspiration. In fact, today in sacrament meeting, his wife said that he sometimes tells her that he knows he was called of the Lord because no one else would have ever chosen him. In all honesty, I found him very annoying when I first got to know him. But the more I got to know him, the more I understood his heart. I think a lot of Bishops are somewhat similar... good at administrating and ministering in the church. Bishop Rhead is not a very good administrator, it's an area that he struggles in, admittedly. And this is something that can frustrate people at times.

But here is the thing about him, he's absolutely amazing. I think his faith is bigger than a mustard seed, I really do. He has such a love for people. He calls every single member of our ward on their birthdays - from the kids to the adults, without fail. On Saturdays, while Sarah was in soccer, I frequently saw him roaming the fields to talk to parents of kids in his ward and to watch the kids play soccer for a few minutes. I remember sitting next to a gal in our Stake at one of Sarah's soccer games. She was there with her mom, who was in town. When Bishop Rhead came up and said hi to me and then talked to this gal, she introduced him to her mom as "The Bishop who goes to everything". This is a soccer field that has probably 5 different games going on, that start every hour or so. He'll spend a couple of hours at the games there to catch as many of the kids that he can in games and then say, "well, I gotta head over the baseball fields because _________, and ____________, and _______ have baseball games today" and off he goes. And, it absolutely isn't about him, but he wants the kids to know that their Bishop cares about them, because he represents the Lord. He came to Sarah's dance recital. He isn't necessarily very good with words, in fact sometimes it's hard to keep up with him. But the way that he bares his testimony is by living it.

When one of our Young Men was in the hospital in a coma in Boise, he was probably there about 3-4 times a week, I bet. Shortly after he became Bishop, he found out that one of the widows in our ward (an amazing 85 year old) was somewhat disappointed that she hadn't had the opportunity to serve a mission - something that it said in her patriarchal blessing that she would do. So he had an appt set up with her a short time later. She didn't feel, due to her health that there were more than a couple of callings in the WARD that she could do at the time. But when he met with her, he called her to serve a full-time mission... which she has been doing for about a year now, down in Salt Lake City. He has a lot of faith.

I am grateful that I get to serve closely with him as I serve with the Priests in the ward. He has so many of the qualities that I lack and need so badly in my life. I hope that I can pick up a few of these qualities from him as I continue to serve with him and get to see him serve. He is a man that I have grown to love and appreciate and, I hope someday, in some ways, emulate.

LIfe is Precious

I don't post from work on this blog... typically. I just don't know what else to do right now. This morning, I was looking at who had blogged recently and saw that my friend's 15-month old son, Evan, passed away yesterday morning and that both he (Tymon) and his wife (Bridget) had blogged about it to inform people. I'm just sitting here at work balling and wishing I was a better parent and took advantage of each precious moment with my 3 little ones that I love so much but don't always appreciate from moment-to-moment. As a parent, you realize on some level that something like this could happen to one of your kids, but you obviously can't live in a constant state of worry and fear and protectiveness and you have to live with the belief that this won't happen to you (a good and generally healthy defense mechanism). Even though I know that my family (and, fortunately, my friend's) is an eternal one due to the nature of our marriage in the Seattle Temple, a loss like this would be extremely devastating. I work with trauma of all kinds on a daily basis at work, so I know that life goes on but is typically never really the same. I know that such would be the case for me.

While I can't quote it off-hand, I often remember Neal A. Maxwell discussing trials and difficulties and talking about how it often feels that these experiences carve out spaces in our souls. He went on to say that that new space often makes greater room for added love, compassion and empathy for others. I know that Tymon and Bridget will have an added measure of love to show to their three other children (soon to be four as Bridget is expecting their first daughter) in the long-run as they move through this loss of their little Evan.

Any prayers or thoughts in their behalf would obviously be greatly appreciated. I know I'll hug my little ones a little longer and have a little more meaning when I tell them of my love for them tonight. God be with you Bridget, Tymon, Graeden, Elliott, and Jett (as well as Jovana).