Primary Blunders and Quandries
Is it just life that as soon as you think you have a bit of a handle on something, you realize that you don't? Maybe it is just me. Primary on Sunday went really well. As I was going to bed last night I realized that I enjoy working with the kids in Primary. I have fun whether I am conducting, like I did yesterday, or teaching Sharing Time. I love the kids and I thoroughly enjoy that aspect of my calling. And then, just as I was ready to drift off to sleep, I realized that I had scheduled a presidency meeting at the same time as I have parent/teacher conferences this Tuesday. Oops! I laid awake for another hour after that thinking about how I was going to explain my blunder to the other members of my presidency - especially after I cancelled our meeting last week. (I cancelled because I wanted to enjoy Lindy's company last week.) I thought about Primary, about callings that need to be filled, about things we should talk about at our presidency meeting, all the while hearing songs we had sung in primary run through my head to the rhythm of the ticking clock.
It isn't the teaching that worries me about my calling; it is the administrative duties - the responsibility for what goes on, callings, releasings, etc. and the assumption that other people seem to have that suddenly I have all the answers! I'm finding out that I have to think things through entirely before I say a single thing to anyone, and that is hard when they ask a question and then stare at me waiting for me to come up with an answer. I need to get better at saying, "Let me think about that and get back to you." I wish I knew what questions were going to be asked beforehand, so I could think about it and know the answers when the questions do come up. I'm still figuring out what decissions I can and should make on my own and which I should make with the counsel of my counselors, and which I should delegate to a counselor to make.
I'm still searching for a time that I can regularly consult- at length- with the Lord about primary matters when I'm not going to be distracted or disturbed by family members, phone calls, sleepiness, cats, etc. Even though I only have one child at home on school days now, he is a demanding one, with no one else to entertain him... if I leave the room for a few minutes, he comes searching for me, no matter how involved he appeared to be in whatever he was doing before. Quiet times work sometimes - if he takes a nap. If he doesn't, I get an hour and a half of, "can I come out yet?"
Anyway, this morning I contacted my presidency and rescheduled our meeting for a couple hours later. The kids will have to play quietly in another room for the duration of the meeting. During quiet time today I'll do my planning and praying, because goodness knows that with the kids home from school for the next two days for parent/teacher conferences and Veterans' Day I'm not goin to get another chance to think for a while.
It isn't the teaching that worries me about my calling; it is the administrative duties - the responsibility for what goes on, callings, releasings, etc. and the assumption that other people seem to have that suddenly I have all the answers! I'm finding out that I have to think things through entirely before I say a single thing to anyone, and that is hard when they ask a question and then stare at me waiting for me to come up with an answer. I need to get better at saying, "Let me think about that and get back to you." I wish I knew what questions were going to be asked beforehand, so I could think about it and know the answers when the questions do come up. I'm still figuring out what decissions I can and should make on my own and which I should make with the counsel of my counselors, and which I should delegate to a counselor to make.
I'm still searching for a time that I can regularly consult- at length- with the Lord about primary matters when I'm not going to be distracted or disturbed by family members, phone calls, sleepiness, cats, etc. Even though I only have one child at home on school days now, he is a demanding one, with no one else to entertain him... if I leave the room for a few minutes, he comes searching for me, no matter how involved he appeared to be in whatever he was doing before. Quiet times work sometimes - if he takes a nap. If he doesn't, I get an hour and a half of, "can I come out yet?"
Anyway, this morning I contacted my presidency and rescheduled our meeting for a couple hours later. The kids will have to play quietly in another room for the duration of the meeting. During quiet time today I'll do my planning and praying, because goodness knows that with the kids home from school for the next two days for parent/teacher conferences and Veterans' Day I'm not goin to get another chance to think for a while.
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