release

Though I wasn't in my home ward yesterday, I was released as Primary president. I asked to be released a while ago with the knowledge my life was going to undergo a dramatic change come April & I was so utterly stressed with everything else going on in my life.

I loved my experiences, the wonderful women who served with me, and especially the sweet children I got to know. I learned a lot about leadership because I had never been in a leadership role before. It was definitely challenging to go out of my comfort zone to lead, especially when my counselors were generally older & more experienced than I. I suppose I was to learn something from that. I think I did. I hope I did.

I served in that calling for just about 2 years. It's safe to say that I never really felt like I was doing a stellar job...partly because sometimes--I'm being brutally honest here--other stuff in my life was more of a priority to me than devoting loads of time to coming up with super creative, complicated, and detailed sharing times or quarterly activites. I always felt bad that I couldn't dedicate all my spare moments to the calling and ended up settling with the idea that 'less is more,' and kept everything pretty simple.

I know I learned some important lessons and it was such a joy to be around the children, who are so strong and unwavering. My testimony was strengthened in many ways and I was able to learn a few more fun Primary songs.

My feelings about being released definitely aren't bitter-sweet---I was anxiously waiting this release (& that kinda makes me feel guilty, too), but I'm sincerely grateful for the chance I had to serve in this calling and look forward to being able to work in Primary again somewhere down the road.