Tablecloths, Centerpieces, and Me

Two or so weeks ago (approximately two weeks into my stint as YWP), I was still feeling a little dazed and confused by my new responsibilities.  I had many good intentions and half-formed thoughts, but I didn't feel like I was accomplishing anything.  I felt like my board was looking at me expectantly, ready to act if only I would give them at least an outline of where we were going.  So I went back to lots of prayer and thought.  One evening I was really down.  What did I need to do to get things rolling?  What did my girls need?  I prayed for guidance, then got ready for bed.

I went to bed but could not fall asleep.  All I could think about was how we really needed to get the girls involved in decorating our room.  Crown molding as frames around the chalkboards!  Large bulletin boards decorated in Pinterest-perfect ways with photos of the girls and the temple!  New curtains!  Etc.!  Etc.!  Ideas were coming so insistently that I had to get out of bed and take notes.

Now, at this point, I have to confess that I can be very utilitarian when it comes to decor.  By no means do I feel that a Relief Society or Young Women's lesson is incomplete without a tablecloth and centerpiece at the front of the room. After all, what does teaching the Gospel have to do with what your surroundings look like?   The prior YWP was always trying to figure out ways to decorate around the brown cinder block walls in our room.  Several presidencies prior to that tried different methods, but cinder block is a tough medium in which to work.  We did end up with very attractive YW Theme and Values prints, created by a very talented Beehive advisor, and that seemed just fine to me.  

The Holy Ghost was really stuck on this dang decorating thing, and I was wondering why what something that seemed to me so frivolous and, frankly, "Molly Mormon-y" had to do with strengthening these girls' testimonies and helping develop them into strong, faithful, LDS women and future leaders.  The thought came to me that working together would help these girls draw closer to each other.  They would learn important planning and execution skills.  They would learn compromise and cooperation.  And on top of that, if they had a room where they felt comfortable and happy, they would be more receptive to the Spirit during the Sunday lessons.  Finally, when the Spirit was satisfied that I had gotten the picture, I was able to fall asleep.

My board was very supportive.  The girls are very supportive.  I have a Camp Director/Personal Progress tsarina who is very creative and was so excited to go forward with this project.   We had our first planning meeting on Wednesday.  Six girls came out, and they learned some basic design and planning principles.  We started our "look book", and we have some very interesting and exciting ideas about how to work with our space.  The "before" picture will be posted soon, and I will follow with updates.


Maybe making our YW room more of our "home" is just a little thing, but I have the feeling that great things are going to come to pass because of it.  I'll keep you posted.