Last May I entered the family ward after 7 years in a singles' ward. Making friends was hard. I had a few friends who had just gotten married who switched over at the same time, but were also struggling. I also struggle to make good friends. I have always had one or two really close friends, and a lot of acquaintances. It takes me a little to warm up to people. But, I figured the Lord had something to teach me, so I plunged right in. I was appalled when in the second or third week I got a calling to teach Primary. I thought it was going to be glorified babysitting, and I was not pleased.
I taught myself to get over the noise (sit near the front), how to deal with it when I can't (sit alone on the left side, and slide all the way in, a small family with one or two kids will sit next to you and bam--you have a kid to entertain you when you still cannot hear), and that it is fine if the only person you know is the Primary President and 8 fantastic kids. You also slowly get to know their parents, so turns out, you end up getting to know half the ward council. Now, I am teaching the 7-going-on-8-year-olds, and I miss my first set of kids a ton--they were my only friends at church!
In the last few months (and mostly last week), three of my extremely close friends have left NC for new adventures in their lives, and I'm at a bit of a loss at the moment. I am still forcing myself to have a social life (thank you, Stake MidSingles calling--sigh--talk about love-hate relationship), but I am also trying to make friends among the women of my ward. Luckily I have taught kids of both the RS president and the Primary president, and sadly, those are the two women in the ward I have truly grown to love (and I think would worry if I didn't make it to church). There a few others.
I really look forward to hanging out at the P-pres's home. All of her kids adore me, and she is extremely genuine. B thinks I am nuts and burdening an already busy mother. What does it say about me, that the thing I am looking forward to most this week is a Saturday night spent with 7 kids and an amazing woman, watching a movie, making pizza, and
Just Dance 2
-ing it up (her honey is going to be at work--doctor)? It is kind of shock to see the change in your life, just from the change in your ward.
I know this is somewhat babble-y--sorry. Happy Wednesday. Is it Saturday yet?
whenever I hit New York, and one of my favorite songs from it, is Betty's. I wish I was this assertive. . . Just kidding. She is fantastic!
).
