Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam (Teacher)

This is a churchy post. And there's probably too much context for me to give anyone who's not familiar with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Be ye warned.

Back in January our ward boundaries were rearranged, and we became a brand new ward. The boundaries consist of two separate neighborhoods rather than one continuous area. I knew my immediate subdivision because we had been together in the previous ward, but half the ward was unfamiliar. And we had just been in our previous ward for 18 months or so, in a new state with no family around, so it was another adjustment period.

For a couple of months I had no calling in the new ward, so I felt a little lost. I had never felt that way before in a ward, but I really wanted some sort of responsibility.

As is often the case, I think they were struggling to get enough teachers called to the primary. By the time I was called in for an interview a couple months after the ward formed, I had a pretty strong sense that a primary calling was headed my way.

Sure enough, I was called to teach the sunbeams. As anyone in the Church of Jesus Christ knows, the sunbeams have a reputation. As three- and four-year olds, they are incredibly energetic, have short attention spans, and require a ton of engagement. That being said, I knew Clara was a sunbeam this year, and I of course accepted the calling.

I had never taught primary before, except once or twice as a substitute. So this was a new experience for me. In a lot of ways it went as I expected, with fun times and "pull my hair out" times. I didn't expect to feel like I'm part of an organization (the primary as a whole) that is pretty cohesive and with a presidency that is supportive and thoughtful. And while I generally get a kick out of kids around 2 to 5, I didn't expect that I'd love the little monsters as much as I do.

I'm going to be sad when our kids move up and we get a new crop fresh out of nursery in January. I keep reminding myself that it's only for an hour, which I think will make things a little easier.