Calling all callings

So, you know when you get that phone call during the week...

"Hi, this is Bishop/Brother Smith. I'd like to meet with you/you and your spouse sometime this week/before church on Sunday..."

You know it's a calling. If it was a talk, they'd just ask you over the phone. If they were going to release you without issuing a new calling, they'd just stop you in the hall and let you know. So, it's a new calling.

Then, there's the issue of who you are going to meet with and if your spouse is invited. Primary teacher? Bishop's counselor, no spouse. Young Men's President? Bishop, spouse required. Activities committee? Bishop's counselor, nabbed in the hallway between classes.

So what about when a counselor wants to meet with both of you? It's likely not a high-profile make-sure-the-spouse-can-support-you-in-this-calling calling. Otherwise, you'd be talking to the bishop's secretary to make an appointment. Could be a joint calling. "We'd like the two of you to work in the nursery." Or it could be two separate callings and they are just saving time by having you come in as a couple. "Sister, we'd like you to be on the enrichment committee and Brother, we'd like you to be in charge of the ward bulletin."

I know, I know... all callings are important. Any opportunity you have to serve in the Church is a good one and you will be blessed for it. Some callings are time-consuming and emotionally draining. Some call for you to linger in the background until needed. Some are require special talents that not all members possess. Some require no special training, just a commitment of time.

I'm not interested in trying to rank the importance of callings within the church. But I have noticed differences in the manner of issuance of the call which seem to correlate to "importance." The bishop vs. counselor issue. Or the spouse or no spouse issue. Or this:

"Brother and Sister, thank you so much for taking the time to meet with me today. We've been reorganizing some of our auxiliary organizations and have been prayerfully considering who the Lord might desire to fill these callings. The new auxiliary president has given me your name as someone he/she felt inspired to call as the new secretary in this presidency... We'll set you apart after church..."

Versus:

"Well, we've had a really hard time getting someone reliable in this calling. But the stake is really on our backs now to make sure that each ward has a representative. We thought of you because it would probably fit into your schedule and we need someone right away. I don't have any details about it, but I'll try to find someone to get you some information... If you want to be set apart, you can come down after church..."

I've experienced both. Isn't there anything between inspiration and desperation? Are there only certain callings inspired and the rest are just plug-and-play? Because it also seems like people are encouraged to go home and pray about certain callings but other callings are based solely on your availability and your willingness to serve. And I've got to say, it doesn't really make you feel like you will be contributing anything important when someone tells you "We picked you because you don't have a calling" as opposed to "We were inspired to call you."

I'm not complaining, I'm just wondering. Anyone out there have any insight as to how this works?

It's a bird, it's a plane

We were having a Christmas-themed sharing time on Sunday. The teacher asked the kids what the Wise Men saw waaaay up in the sky on the night that Jesus was born. One enthusiastic boy cried out:

"Harry Potter!"

It wasn't one of my Sunbeams this time, though. Phew.

Primary gems

On Sunday, the Sharing Time lesson was about being thankful for our bodies. The teacher prefaced her lesson by telling the children that Heavenly Father had given each one of them a very special gift.

Teacher: And that special gift is... a body. Each one of us has a body that Heavenly Father has given us.

Kid sitting on the front row: Yeah! A body! He gave us a body! And also... a potty! He gave us a potty, too!!!

The teacher then had the kids come up and choose pictures of various items that would either be good for our bodies or would go into the garbage can. One of my Sunbeams had bailed hard on his turn at the board, putting the scriptures into the garbage can as the rest of junior primary screamed for him to change his mind. He was still smarting from the embarrassment and so I tried to make him feel better on the next round.

Me: Okay, look what she chose... oooohhh... it's a picture of cigarettes. Do those go in the garbage or are they good for your body? I know you know this one...

Sunbeam: *sniff* Good for your body.

Me: *blink* Cigarettes? Does Heavenly Father want us to smoke cigarettes? Or would he want us to put them in the trash?

Sunbeam: Good for your body.

Me: No... if you had cigarettes, you would want to throw them away... wouldn't you?

Sunbeam: *stubbornly* Well, I liked them when I tried them!

I'm lovin' it

As part of our lesson on Sunday, we talked to the Sunbeams about where food and clothing come from.

"Where do we get clothes from? Do clothes grow on trees?" I asked.

"No! That's silly!" the Sunbeams shouted.

"What about food? Does food grow on trees? Yes? What kind of food grows on trees?"

"Apples!" shouted one girl. "Oranges... and... and... uh, grapes!" said another, enthusiastically.

"Very good. But what about things like hamburgers? Do they grow on trees?"

"NO!"

"Really? Well, where do hamburgers come from then?"

There was no hesitation before three kids answered in unison, "MCDONALDS!"

A sunBEAM! A sunBEAM!

I wouldn’t have believed it, but I think I like Sunbeams even more than Nursery. There’s less crying (but still some), fewer messy diapers (none, yay!), fewer toys to clean up (by about 3000%), and fewer clingy parents to pacify. Most of the children can talk fairly well now and because they can express their feelings better, there’s less frustration when they are feeling sad or hurt.

The most difficult part, based on our one week of experience, is Sharing Time. Our ward has an excessively long Sharing Time. Junior Primary attends Sharing Time right after Sacrament. When the first hour ends, the Senior Primary comes in and there’s a combined birthday/visitor/spotlight segment which lasts another 15 minutes. Well, the Sunbeams can only sit still for about the first 5 minutes of Sharing Time, so the rest of the time is spent trying to get them up off the floor and engaged in the lesson or songs. I just don’t think their Nursery teacher did a very good job of teaching them to sit quietly in their seats last year. Darn her! I shake my fist at…uhhh… myself.

When it’s all over, we have seven restless little souls trying their hardest to walk with their arms folded to the classroom just so they can dance and flail and bang their heads into walls to their hearts’ content.

I was most worried about the lesson time. Our lessons in Nursery were, well, to put it kindly, quite brief. It we were lucky, we could have a prayer, say 3 sentences about the topic during snack time and then color an appropriate picture. Now we have about 40 minutes for class time, 20 minutes for playing and 20 minutes for the lesson and related activities.

So our lesson last week was “I Am Thankful for Birds and Insects.” We talked about birds and butterflies, spiders and crickets. We talked about how Heavenly Father had made them all and they each had a purpose, even if they were scary. (Thank goodness there’s no lesson called “I Am Thankful for Snakes” because I might go inactive.) Then we played every single game and sang every single song, and did every single poem suggested by the lesson. Three times.

We ended right on time and even though there weren’t coloring pages to bring home, I felt like we all had a good time.

I asked Brett what he thought about the lesson. He patted my head and said, “Through the whole thing, all I could think about is what a cute platypus you are.” (Usually when he dodges the question by telling me what a cute platypus I am, it’s because he thinks I suck and he doesn’t want to tell me.) I pressed him further for his opinion. He wisely replied, “At this age, I don’t think kids really remember what they learn. They only remember how they feel.”

If that’s true, then all my class went home feeling like beeeeaaaauuuutiful butterflies.

Fired!

... relieved of duty, dismissed, released, promoted, or whatever you want to call it.

Brett and I have been kicked out of nursery. We've been asked to teach the Sunbeam class instead.

I love all the Sunbeams. After all, they were my nursery class last year, so we're all buddies. But still... it's not nursery.

Will we have to be all grown-up and do sharing time? Will we have to sit quietly in our seats during class? Will we have to actually *gasp* teach a lesson? Will there be toys and games and goldfish crackers?

I told a friend that we had been "promoted" and she said gleefully, "I taught the Sunbeams once! It was the worst calling I ever had. I asked to be released after 6 weeks."

Well, you must have had a huge class... how many?

"Three."

*gulp* We have seven.