A Christmas Miracle

Part of the reason for my extreme lack of blogging lately has been my new church calling.  In August, I was put in as the first counselor in the Primary Presidency.  It's a tad bit more involved than my previous calling as a primary teacher, but became much more involved when I received a phone call while we were down in Saint George.  Our poor President had fallen while walking her dogs and shattered her femur.  It was a little unclear how long she would be recovering, so the bishopric asked the second counselor and I to take over her duties until she was back.  All of this happened just before our Primary program and also right before the ward Christmas party that we were in charge of.

Primary programs may sound like fun and games, but figuring out the logistics of 50+kids, their parts, their seating, the songs, handling things like people who don't come or do come is not easy.  I honestly think it would be less preparation to speak once a month or more in sacrament meeting.  The program was in November and while there were some weeks I felt like I was working a part time job, the work paid off.  The kids did an excellent job, many of them knew their parts and they all sang so good.  Luckily the day of the program, I was surprisingly calm.  I was able to attend the temple the day before the program, and it was just what I needed.

Two weeks after the Primary program, we put on the ward Christmas party complete with a talent show and Nativity scene.  We chose about 13 kids to be in the nativity and had 9 talents.  During the talent show we had the kids who were going to be in the Nativity come to the primary room to get ready.  It was TOTAL chaos!  The shepherds were sword fighting with their crooks, the animals were running around, and hardly anyone was listening.  We lined up the kids in the hall during the last performance and then had prelude music playing while we assembled the children on stage.  It was like magic!  They got into a pose that I hadn't even imagined but it looked so fitting.  The curtains opened and they were so still while the story of Christ's birth was read.  Things were going so smoothly that I even managed to sneak into the cultural hall and watch.  I choked up watching their sweet, tender faces as they depicted that wonderful moment in time.  Their transformation that night was nothing short of a Christmas Miracle!

Kirk snapped a few pictures with his phone:

A close up of the little lambs.  Maren in the middle.  She was so excited that night she kept running around the church telling people "it's my first time on stage".

The parents all did a great job of coming up with the costumes.

Now that things are calming down and our president is back in action, I have a whole new respect for all that she does.  Even though the past two months have been crazy, and I've second guessed my ability to fulfill my calling, it has been good for me.... I think.