Primary Update

Well a couple weeks ago I was called as Primary President. I was a bit shocked...and I wasn't. I really thought they would call someone else to replace Sandra b/c of our situation here with Ben never home but Bishop said he kept feeling it was to be me. Just a few days before he talked to me I was working on some primary stuff and thinking about the primary program when I had a sudden strong feeling that I would be in charge when the program rolled around....so I shouldn't slack now on teaching the songs like I was tempted to do because of Sandra's lack of help with all of it. But I wasn't expecting it to be that following Sunday. I have had a wave of emotions. Sometimes I feel it will be just fine and can't be more stressful than this past year  (the old president was very difficult to work with. NO communication and no delegation and half the time she didn't show up when she was supposed to) and sometimes I start to feel really stressed out worrying about doing it all. But I'm trying to just focus on a day at a time and not get too worked up over anything. I just keep saying my prayers that I can do it. When the Bishop set me apart he said that if I focused on primary then my responsibilities at home to the house, kids, and husband would be lightened and I would be able to carry the load. I sure hope so.

*This is an update on Aug. 2, 2012
Primary has been going really well so far. I've been able to make a few small changes that have seemed to help with the organization and things going smoother. My counselors, Shannon Cottrell and Melissa Quijano, have been so great to step up and help with whatever is needed. It has been a huge relief to have good support. I also just want to write a little about the blessings from serving in callings. This calling in primary the last year has not been easy. It can be time consuming and stressful and I could probably really use 2 hours to myself sitting in RS and gospel doctrine since I don't get any kid breaks during the week, but I have done my best to work hard and do what is needed. I am constantly getting answers to my prayers in who to call or how to do something. That has been a huge blessing. But the biggest one has been financially. I wrote about the blessing the bishop gave me saying that if I focused and worked hard in primary that burdens at home would be lifted. Immediately 2 things came to mind. The First was with the boys school. That causes me such a huge amount of stress worrying about the boys and the teachers they get. The Second was financially. I spend SO MUCH TIMe making our tiny budget work and stressing over where to spend the few (literally) spare dollars we have. I spend hours meal planning and shopping various stores for their sales. It is very time consuming but a necessity with our budget. Well right after I accepted the calling one of the main dentists at Ben's moonlight job broke his leg and the office was in desperate need of someone to fill in for him. Luckily Ben was on anesthesia so had quite a few days off to help them out. Then 6 weeks after accepting the calling Ben got his paycheck for $11886.80. That much was made in one month of moonlighting! AFter paying tithing and our tax savings, it was just enough for us to do the things we've been wanting to do for over a year:
*PAY off the credit card!
*drive me & kids out to utah for a couple weeks
*I got to do a little shopping
*and get my haircut by someone who knew what they were doing
*BUY tickets to go to Mexico with Ben's family in DEC. on his break month to celebrate our anniversary
*BUT tickets to fly to WA for christmas
*leave us with a small cushion.

And he has still been getting good moonlight jobs. I know this is a direct blessing from serving in my callling. The load it has taken off of me to be able to breath a tiny bit with our budget is enormous. I am so grateful for this.