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Meet Amy
I have struggled with the answer when asked, "What do you do?" and it isn't work-related. Ultimately, we settled on that I find things and untangle things. But I also read (a lot), pretend to wake surf, and watch Hallmark films.
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Some girls like dolls and other girls play dress-up. My girls? They dig up pill bugs and then save them in a cup. And they collect grasshoppers and store them in a real bug catcher toy from target. And then they leave them around the house. Lucky me.
I really thought having only girls I would never have to worry about finding bugs around the house or cleaning up from bug digs. I was a girly girl. If I dug in the dirt it was to plant flowers, seeds or bury a treasure that I hoped to find many years later. I still had black dirt under my fingernails. But no bug guts on my clothes.
***Jade took these pictures because she wanted to document just how cool her bugs were before she was asked to put them back n the garden.
Oh and did you know that pill bugs are not bad for your flower bed? They are not good for seedlings but once they are established, they do no harm.
Participating in the following Wordless/Wordful Wednesday memes…. Parenting by Dummies, Seven Clown Circus, Better in Bulk, SuperMom, A Beautiful Mess and Angry Julie.
Scott received a phone call right before church asking if he could help out with Ivy’s primary class. All he had to do was sit with her class during the under-7 combined meeting and attend her class. Ivy was SOOOO excited.
Once in the meeting, my class was immediately standing up and screaming because they wanted a turn to volunteer, or a little boy sat on the little girl’s party dress, or someone took someone else’s chair. By the way, I have already learned that there is no reasoning with a 3 year old. Just because they had the first turn to volunteer doesn’t change the fact that they want to volunteer again.
While we were in the combined meeting, I received a text from Scott (who has also never had a calling in the primary). It read…
“I think you had them call me so I’d see what you’re going through”
Many people have told me Sunbeams was their favorite calling of all time. I think they are just saying that to give me hope.
Class began with one little boy playing with his bright green extra gum. In his fingers. Back in his mouth. Pulled between his teeth and back into his hands.
Another little boy wanted to say the prayer but was passed over when another child was selected. He didn’t fuss because he assumed he would get to say the closing prayer.
One little girl wanted a certain boy to sit by her. While another little boy realized that we were in one of the nursery rooms with a chest full of toys. He quickly fixated on the closed chest of toys. Throughout the ENTIRE lesson he said, “I wanna play with toys” and “Can I play with toys now?” Over and over and over again. I was expecting him to curl into the fetal position and start rocking at any moment. He didn’t – he just stuck with constantly repeating “I wanna play with toys” – until the closing prayer.
During the lesson, my teaching companion had the kids sing a song about a ball. The song starts with your hands making a ball. (I have never heard the song before and can honestly say that I have still not heard the song). One of the boys didn’t start on time which meant that during the remainder of the song he was saying and then yelling “Start Over! I Wasn’t Ready. Start Over!” Once the song was over, he huffed that he didn’t get to do it because she wouldn’t start over.
Then we went for a “walk”. The walk was really sitting in our chairs patting our legs. One of the boys said, “I’m gonna ride my bike instead” and assumed a biking position. As the teacher continued the “walk”, we “ran” and “climbed a tree”. All of us except the boy on the bike because he couldn’t run and ride a bike at the same time. While the rest of us continued our walk, our little biker somehow got himself stuck over an alligator pit and needed to be rescued. With each activity on our walk he would holler that he couldn’t do it because he was stuck over this alligator pit. The teacher continued with the story and everyone opened the door, ate dinner, cleaned their face and went to bed. He continued hollering and all the while he stayed in his biking position. By the time everyone else was in bed, he looked like he was about to cry.
So, I climbed on my bike and rescued him in the dark of the night. As he “climbed” onto my bike he sighed “Phew, thank you. Now I can go to bed too.”
And that sums up my first Sunday in Sunbeams.
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PS – Jade asked me why I didn’t just turn down the calling if it is going to be so hard for me. I explained that when we receive a calling that we need to accept it because we are called for a reason. Sometimes the calling is for us to grow and other times we are called to help someone else.
***Artwork by Emily McPhie
Last week, Scott was out of town and I was doing my best to juggle everything on my plate. I was grateful my Sunday School lesson didn’t have to be prepared for Sunday but I was looking forward to the next week’s lesson.
Tuesday night I received a call from the Executive Secretary from church. Whenever you get a call from the secretary, you know one of two things. You are either going to be released from your current calling to serve or you are getting a new calling. (In the LDS church, we are asked to serve in different organizations and you don’t get to choose what you are called to do). For the past 2 years, I have been serving as an adult Sunday School teacher. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that calling. It challenges me. It gives me purpose, focus and strength. I would be perfectly happy to serve in that calling for the rest of my days. So having the call come when I was home without Scott was not welcomed. I really wanted to have my support system by my side when I was released from my favorite calling.
I didn’t sleep that night. I just fretted about what was going to happen. I was sad that I was most likely getting released and I was afraid of what was going to be next. I’ve served in the women’s organization, the Sunday School organization, the young women’s organization but NEVER the little kids organization. In my mind, I had decided that the reason I had never served in the kids organization was because I am not great with kids. I love children but they don’t love me. Growing up, I was never called to babysit the neighbor kids. If they were desperate they would call me once, but never a second time. And I was okay with that.
In our home, I do the “structured play” and Scott does the “fun” play. I would definitely describe him as the playful parent and me as the serious one. I’m not considered a funny person nor am I one that laughs super easily. The humor has to sink in for me to laugh. (Or it needs to be late at night and I need to be tired).
All of that being said, guess what my new calling is?
Introducing Amy Sanford, the newest teacher for the 3-4 year olds!!! Really! I’m dying. Not adapting at all well to this change.
But, it just might provide with some “funny” material for the blog. 6 boys and 2 girls is bound to make me laugh (or cry) each Sunday.
**I am stuck on a picture for this post. Once I come up with one I’ll update it. 🙂
I’m so tired but I wanted to post some pictures from my first night in Dallas. It is crazy that with as much as I have traveled in my lifetime, I have never been out of the airport in Dallas.
My first impression flying in was “Holy cow there are a LOT of big beautiful homes”. My thought while taking a cab into the city was that it looked pretty trashy and I wasn’t very excited.
Then my co-workers and I left the hotel to see the JFK shooting site. While walking around through the historical district, I fell in love with Dallas. Sure, it is just a sampling of this great big city, but it impressed me.
As we were walking away from the hotel we passed the “Heart Attack Grill” which is so funny because there was a story about them just the other morning on the radio. They give you a hospital gown to wear while you eat and the waitresses are dressed as nurses. Hilarious.
Then we made it to the site where JFK was shot. While we were there a funny old man wearing a Dallas t-shirt asked us if it was our first time being there. He then told us he works at the museum and that he was waiting for his wife to pick him up but he’d be happy to give us a quick tour. He was incredibly knowledgable and very sweet. As he told us the stories and the secrets of the shooting, he told us he’d had back surgery and was just going back to work tomorrow and that giving us the tour was great practice for him. Then we gathered more listeners and he mentioned we could tip him if we wanted. He took us to the spot that many believe is where the real shooter was standing. We all took pictures with him in the “spot” – of course my picture is blurry. Then he told us he normally charges $8 per person but we can tip him if we want. He wrapped up the story asking us who we think killed JFK. A 19 year old boy and his 21 year old brother thought Johnson, the woman with them (not their mom) thought it was the mafia. Our friend “Sherman” told us all about his theory. He also mentioned that of the 400+ people to bear testimony about the shooting, nearly all died of suspicious accidental deaths.
At the bottom of the picture, you can see the X on the road. That is the spot of the second shot.
We ended the night eating at a yummy Mexican place. And called it a night.
Now if only TGIF’s would close so that their “concert on the patio” could end, I would slip off into a peaceful slumber.
Hosted by Cecily and Lolli
A friend of mine came up to me and said, “I’m in a really bad mood today. I had an awful weekend and I’m sure I’m going to have a bad week because of it.”
I guess that is one approach.
But wouldn’t it be better to say, “Man, I had a crappy weekend. Hopefully I can make the most out of this week and enter next weekend ready for some fun.”
Just a thought.
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Speaking of a bad weekend that carried into a bad Monday…
Friday the 13th lived up to its name. My sister-in-law has been cancer free for 10 months. 10 miraculous months. On Friday we learned that those aggressive and unwelcome cancer cells are back and she has a number of them in her abdomen.
Sure, I could focus on the tailspin that news put me in. But my tailspin is nothing compared to the feeling my brother and sister-in-law are experiencing. My tears and sobs that would creep out at random times throughout the weekend and even today, are dry and quiet compared to what my brother and sister-in-law are having. For the moment, there are few trials that I see people dealing with that compare to what Tom and Anne are facing.
Anne wrote, “I have spent the past few months riding the rollercoaster of surgically-induced menopause, trying to overcome the neuropathy that my chemo created, working on growing back some seriously wavy salt and pepper hair, and finally getting some of my energy back. During that time, however, with my focus on my limbs and my hormones, cancer has crept back into my abdomen.
We are crushed. We spent the better part of yesterday crying and trying to regroup. I think there will be more crying, but in moving forward, we are focused on fighting.”
In closing she asked us to please share with all who would be able and willing to pray for her. 10 months ago, you prayed for her and her family. I humbly ask you to do it again.
So far this week she has had a stint put in for her kidney and her port is back in place. We will learn more each day on the steps that follow. For now, we will pray with as much faith as we can.
I am grateful that we grow from our trials and challenges. It helps me knowing that Anne and Tom are two of the most faithful people that I know. If there are two people that can find the bright side and win this fight, I believe it is them.
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