Yesterday I was officially called as the first counselor in the Relief Society in our ward. This represents something totally new and different for me. Since our church is run exclusively by volunteers, I have had a lot of callings over the years, but they were all pretty much the same thing, just in different wards. Sunbeam teacher several times, Cub Scout den Leader, Counselor in the Primary Presidency twice, Primary teacher, Sunday School teacher, back to Primary teacher. Are you sensing a pattern here? I love teaching the children, especially since it almost always includes teaching my own children at church.
The only thing I have ever done in Relief Society was show up. Okay, I may have taught a craft at Enrichment night once or twice, but mostly, I just hung out in the back row and made a comment every now and again. I am not scared of the calling, but it is a change. Not a huge change, but a change nonetheless. Apparently, I know so little about how Relief Society is run, I was confused as to what duties the first counselor had. When I first was extended the calling, I thought I would be in charge of organizing the Enrichment nights. That sounded like it could be quite a lot of fun, and I was planning different classes in my head for pretty much, the entire new calendar year. Yeah, found out yesterday that actually, I am in charge of the lessons for Sundays. Don't know what that means exaclty, but I am sure it has something to do with organizing who will be giving what lesson when, and also teaching myself on a regular basis.
Of course, I will still be teaching my primary class until they find someone to replace me. This has always been a sore spot with me that every Bishopric I have worked with has absolutely no qualms about pulling people out of Primary, and is in no rush whatsoever to put people back in. So kids are left with substitute after substitute, or get jammed into huge classes until finally, months later, a new teacher is called. My son is in this class and there is no way I am letting that happen to him. I have actually seen kids go inactive at the age he is at because "what's the point in coming to Church, every week I have a different teacher, or no teacher at all." (The girl who told me this came from a single parent home, where the mother was not active herself, but the kids all came on their own. She finally gave up the effort when it was shown to her that no one cared. I will not let that happen ever again.)
On the way to church, where I knew I would be receiving the call, I told Chris that I needed to start carrying, and actually writing things down, in my planner. There would be lots of meetings and details of stuff that I couldn't forget. He smiled, kissed my hand and said, "My little girl is growing up." (He has been trying to get me to be more responsible about dates and appointments for a long time. We will see if my good intentions really stick this time. )