Sunday, August 27, 2006

My Singing Time Idea

For those of you who rack your brains for ideas of what you can do for things you have to do, I have one suggestion: Ask a friend for advice. A while back I asked for advice on singing time ideas for church. I was given MANY and am really grateful for them! (Thanks!) Anyway, one just hit me as a good way to review for the Sacrament meeting program.
My friend, Carrie, gave me the idea for the singing time olympics. When I read that idea my mind just went NUTS!! I've got it set up so that not next week (I'll be out of town), but the NEXT week we'll be starting. I've printed off score cards for the primary presidency to use to score the singing...from one to ten. Once we get a score for a song we'll keep track of the points. I'll make up a cutsie poster that tells the kids what their scores are, and we'll have the junior primary compete against the senior primary. I'm even thinking about having some extra events...like standing and sitting on command from the conductor.
At the end I wanted a prize for the winner, but I didn't want the losers to feel bad either. So I was telling the primary presidency about it and they suggested making mini-medals for the winners. I was thrilled to get the idea. So the winners will be getting a gold candy on a ribbon that they can wear around their necks, and the "losers" will be getting a silver candy. I'm SO excited about this that I can't even tell you!
Today was my end of month game day, and to add extra fun to the game I pulled out my celestial singing chart. It has a sun, moon, and star on it. The songs are on individual stars and however well they sang was how high on the chart the star was placed. They sang SO well knowing that they were being judged. It was fun. The funny part was when we started reviewing "Holding Hands Around the World." I tried to jog their memories by saying the first words of the song...just to get them remembering the song, and I totally messed up! The pianist helped to remind me of the words, but I STILL forgot the words. It was just a disaster! I almost completely forgot the words to the verses! I definitely need to review! The kids loved that I was messing up though...they knew the words and thought that it was funny that they were doing better that me. So I managed to turn my mistake into a fun learning experience!
Church was so good today. The speakers gave really good talks about perspective...and not comparing yourself to someone else. I have such a hard time with that! I compare myself constantly! It's one of those habits I really hope to break. The lady that spoke compared it to everyone having a peg-board. Everyone has different pegs in their boards, and you can't say, "Well, I've got 3 pegs that she doesn't have...I wonder what's wrong with her." Because she may have 20 pegs elsewhere that you don't have yourself. I thought it was a really good analogy!
I've been going to church by myself for a while because Steve has been working graveyards on Saturday nights. I HATE it, but I deal with it. When I'm at church I feel like I'm a single parent (even though I'm not!) It is SO hard. I really admire those parents who have spouses who either aren't members of the church or those who are inactive and yet they go diligently every week. I'm very impressed with their dedication. I'm just glad I only have to do it for short periods of time! Today two people came up to me asking how Steve was. (One was a member of the bishopric.) I told them that he's been working graveyards and is just sleeping. If he wasn't working those shifts he'd be at church. They both seemed relieved that he's not just becoming inactive. Personally, I'm relieved too. I can't wait for him to stop working these horrendous shifts! I miss my husband...and play practice hasn't even started yet!

2 comments:

CareBearMommy said...

With the Olympics... here's just a few of the things that the kids were judged on. 1) How loud they sang. 2) How well they knew the words 3) How focused they were on singing (not goofing off, etc). There was one other thing, I think, but I can't seem to remember what it was. I can ask our Primary chorister next week... I'm SURE he remembers. Good luck. It was lots of fun.

One thing about attending church without hour hubby... just you WAIT till you have a little toddler to deal with, along with Cameron! HA! I spend most of Sacrament out in the hallway or foyer with Ty since my hubby has to stay in the chapel (since he's the clerk!) haha!

Melzie said...

The GYS does bite. Hubby & I just discussed that while he's on his night 4 wks, I will not see him but on Saturday. (He does wake to go to church, but ours is late, 12:30)

As a former single mom, I hav eto admit that my only hate of being solo at chuirch was watching all the PDA that happens in sacrament, LOL! HF blessed me with a kiddo who was perfect- must have been the guilt over the pda thing, LOL ;)

the singing olympics sounds divine!