Our RS Christmas Activity

 In August I was called to be the activities coordinator for the ladies at our church. The calling came at a time when I was just recovering from some of the craziest few months of my entire life (losing my Dad, having some pretty big outside commitments, supporting my Mom, sending Adam off on a mission, and experiencing some not-serious-but-not-to-be-ignored health issues).  In addition to all that, it's a calling that plays on a lot of my deepest insecurities.  For whatever reason, I've never felt confident at planning and executing events.  I'm a great helper at those types of things, but as soon as I feel like it's "up to me" to make whatever is being planned appealing, engaging, meaningful, fun....whatever the goal is...I get super intimidated and feel like I'm being judged.  It's definitely a me-problem, not anyone else's fault.  

  Not one to shy away from a challenge though, I accepted the calling in hopes that I would eventually find joy in it and that maybe somewhere along the way I would be able to make a difference.  

But....to add to the intimidation factor, there was no committee to help me at first and the presidency member called to work with me had a death in the family literally the same week I was called, which basically meant I was on my own.  And I'm still new in the ward, so I don't know people all that well, don't know traditions, and don't know the culture here.   Pretty much all things that added to my insecurities times a million.   

 I did my research and decided that a getting-to-know-you activity was the perfect way to kick off a new school year.   I cobbled together, what I thought was a very successful and fun activity, for October, coordinating with the RS president when I needed to, but trying not to burden her.    Over 40 people showed up, we got to know each other a little better, and I had many compliments afterward that it was one of the best activities they'd been to in a long time.   

Whew!   My relief was HUGE that I had pulled off a well-attended and meaningful activity pretty much by myself.    By this time, there was a new RS presidency in place AND I'd been given a couple people to work with on a planning committee, so my stress level was decreasing somewhat.   I was still intimidated by doing this month after month, but it definitely was starting to feel more manageable at this point. 

Me and my new committee got right to work on planning the Christmas activity.    Once again, I felt a little intimidated not knowing the "ways of the ward" and how they like things to happen, but we went forward with planning, with a few changes from last year, and came up with what seemed like a solid plan for moving forward.    We made invitations and sign-ups and started making things happen.   

We had a few little hiccups/drama along the way, but I think the night came together beautifully...

My committee was AMAZING at making things happen!   

The decor was inexpensive and lovely...

Ladies from the ward volunteered to host a table--making each one beautiful and unique....

There were 60ish people in attendance....

The dinner was PERFECT, though sadly I got no pictures of it.  A lady in our ward has a catering business, so she made pork tenderloin with apricot sauce, hasselback potatoes, salad, rolls, and cheesecake all on her own.   Everything was delicious! 

And I think the activity / message was meaningful, despite the changes I made.   I shared a message at the beginning on being kind and about the angels among us....

and during the activity we had people read off instances when people in the ward had been blessed by others in the ward.  ( I had collected the experiences beforehand). 

The RS president finished off with a beautiful message and everyone left with a little angel ornament for themselves or to share with an angel in their lives. 

Overall, I think that the night came off very well and it was  a HUGE relief to have it done a whole week before my surgery.  I felt my stress level drop significantly when it was done and now I have until February before the next activity!   I wouldn't quite say that I love the calling yet, but my confidence has definitely increased somewhat that I can actually make a difference.