Cherubs

I'm directing the Cherub Choir at Church this year. I really wanted to work with the children last year, but Don encouraged me to not take on anything else. And it only took two weeks into the school year for me to recognize his wisdom in that advice.

Deanna had Little Sisters after school on Wednesday's twice a month and I helped out in the Kindergarten classroom every Wednesday. With choir practice on Wednesdays, too, I would have been a basket case by bedtime.

But Little Sisters is a closed chapter for Deanna. She's now in Middle School and I won't be helping out much at the school this year. Don and I decided that I needed to take a break this year from other service to focus on helping my parents. Daddy turns 80 next month and I'll spend three days a week this school year taking them to appointments, to run errands, etc. So it was the perfect opportunity to jump into Children's Choir.

Don has decided to take a Sabbatical from directing the Handbell Choir and our Music Director is most willing to work with me so we can go to Don's parents for a week at Christmas and have the freedom to really be a volunteer without being completely tied down. My REAL goal is to begin to teach handbells to the children. I'd love to build a children's handbell choir. On my recommendation last year, the Music Director bought a set of children's bells and has been using them in conjunction with the choir program. I'd like to focus more on the bells, but maybe that will develop next year.

For now, I'm busily picking out simple music with repetitive words to teach the children. They sing twice a month - once at the 9:00 service and once at the 11:30 Contemporary service. That's a lot of stuff that needs to be prepared. Our Music Director has encouraged me to not get stressed or bogged down in details, but to really enjoy working with the children. He's been trying to do all the children's choirs at the same time by himself with only a teenager to help (who's done a fabulous job, despite her tender years) and is very thankful to have an adult to work just with the younger singers for a few minutes each practice.

It'll be hard to live up to him. He probably is a little ADHD and has way more energy than I could EVER hope to muster. And he's worked with children for years. He knows all their little "gotchas" and keeps the pace moving to keep them all involved and interested. He's amazing to watch at practice and impossible to emulate.

Yesterday at church, the teenager who's been working with the little guys asked me if I was excited. Excited, no. Nervous, yes. She reassured me and told me that she'll be there to help. Thank goodness for that.

So, once again, it seems I've gotten myself into something. Now it looks like most of Deanna's volleyball games will be on Wednesdays. It doesn't seem to matter how hard I try, life is just BUSY. We flit from one thing to another, trying hard to keep our composure while explaining to my children that life should be simple and time spent together is more important that staying busy.

Why can't I practice what I preach?