Tonight was going to involve a great babysitter coming over to watch our kids while Doug and I went to the temple. Instead, our babysitter bowed out due to a nasty virus, we put the kids down just a little while ago, and Doug let me know that if I had anything I wanted to do, I ought to do it now because he really wants to keep playing with his new laptop "toy". So here I am. I guess our date starts when I end this post:).
Mostly, I'm reporting on the massive amount of work that went into planning the Relief Society Birthday Dinner. I'm a complete advocate of KISS (Keep it simple, silly) and even did a 30-page report on this philosophy in my Master's program. I really don't think we should kill ourselves to fulfill our callings. That said, I cut out several hundred construction paper hands and wrote the names of Relief Society sisters past and present and tacked these hands up in "heart" shapes around the gym to keep with my theme, "Many Hands Make Light Work." To quote my mom, after I told her what I'd done with the hands, "Oh, man. I HATE that stuff!!!!" I told her it was my own fault. My project. My time. Not necessary. And I did it anyway.
If you're like me, and you accidentally spend a lot of time on things that aren't necessary, you may wonder why. For me, I just liked the idea of hands up, and I could envision it. I had the time to do the cut-outs while I listened to music one night and Doug read "Percy Jackson" and a love note to me the other. So I did it. I posted pictures from our Birthday dinner, unfortunately not in order. I thought the party was really nice. It was potluck, with ham and rolls provided, so we knew we wouldn't starve, but we got to sample all sorts of yummy deliciousness.
And the greatest thing that has EVER happened to a Relief Society event in the history of the world: we had leftover boxes like you get at restaurants!!!! Seriously, that filled me with complete joy. How marvelous to take a variety of different foods home after an event. Superb.
For the amazing party planners I know who blow me away, here's what we did for the party:
We made it potluck and had sisters sign up if they needed babysitting. The young women watched kids for the women who couldn't get help that night. We had posters and a lot of project materials at every table so the sisters at each table could work together to make something dealing with the theme "Many hands make light work" and we only gave sisters 15 minutes to work on their masterpieces before praying for the food. After all the sisters were back at their seats, I started the program with a message from President Hinckley, then two sister performed "His hands" (Vocal and piano) then some sisters shared how they had been lifted. Then we all went around displaying our posters and we closed by practicing "As Sisters in Zion," which we're singing on Sunday in Sacrament meeting.
I guess if you love people, or you're learning to love them, you serve them. Because I had some extra time, I served a little extra, and I don't even begrudge the extra effort.
2 comments:
Sounds like a fun evening. I like your gift of love - the hand hearts. Your post makes me wish I would have taken pictures of our R.S. Birthday Party. I'll have to tell you about it when we come.
Way to go Tara! Wish I could have been there to witness your hard work.
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