New Calling

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." -Nelson Mandela

First off, if you don't know what a Mormon is, please click HERE. It will help explain a lot of things I won't be covering in this post.

Anyway, I'm a Mormon, and in our church, we function on the volunteer hours of is members. Most people are given a position to fill at church on a volunteer basis for a period of time (months, years) to make sure the church runs the way it's supposed to and everyone gets taken care of. That position is called a "Calling".

I got a new calling today. I was serving with the young women, aged 12-18, and I loved it. It was a challenging calling, but I felt like I was finally starting to make some headway with some of the girls. My new calling scares me. I am the new primary music leader. Primary is the organization in the church for children age 3-11. Now, I'm confident in my musical abilities and my voice, there's really no problems there. What scares me (get ready for this) are the children!

"Children scare you?" I can hear you scoffing from miles away, believe me. But let me explain.

1. I'm very pregnant. As of tomorrow, I'll have three weeks left. So I'm lacking energy, plus I'll very soon be missing a lot of church. Not only that, but the primary program, a yearly program the children put together, is next month, and I have no idea what I'm doing! Ahh! Am I going to miss the program? Are the children musically ready for the program? I have no idea.

2. I can barely contain my own two boys; how am I going to keep control of a BUNCH of rowdy kids for 20ish minutes? Am I creative enough? Fortunately, the program splits up the younger kids and the older kids, so I won't have to keep them ALL entertained at once, but whoa.

3. I have realized that I'm not a very creative person. I like things to be straightforward and to the point, but others, especially kids, don't learn well that way. It's going to take a lot of energy, patience, and perseverance to figure out what works and what doesn't.

Ok, so I've told you I'm scared. But I also am excited. Music time in primary was my favorite as a child. Pretty much all I remember from my time in primary myself was from music time. What I'm hoping for is this: that the little kids will learn to like to sing, and will sing along and participate when I ask. Hopefully they'll also learn the words and will be enthusiastic about music time! For the older kids, I'm hoping that as they learn new songs, they'll be able to think about the words they're singing and try to learn from them. I know - big hopes there, but I think they can do it. They're smart, and Heavenly Father sent them here because they're smart and strong. I want to build their testimonies through the music.

Oh boy. Heaven help me. I'm sure I'll figure it all out soon, I just feel like right now is kind of a crazy time to switch into this calling... Hopefully the next month or two with my baby and the program will be as hectic as it gets for a while! I'll try to keep you updated.