Doesn't that just look lovely? It conjures pictures of crisp morning air, not a care in the world. Just sitting on the back porch with a hot cup of raspberry and lemon tea listening to the birds chirping with no place to go and nothing better to do than soak up the early morning sunshine.
Yeah. Right. I am frequently reminded of the saying, "Whoever said 'easy like a Sunday morning' obviously did not have to get kids ready for church!" Let's face it. Getting 3 kids (or even just 1) ready and out the door for church at 9:30 in the morning is no picnic. It is a process that starts Saturday afternoon with making sure the good clothes are clean and just gets more and more hectic as you go until Sunday morning you realize that, as a friend said to me once, "It's either me or them. We don't get to both look good." Sometimes I really wonder if taking them to church is worth it.
But yesterday as I sat in church, trying to keep the kids quiet and happy and telling myself that they were listening even if they don't look like it, I realized that I love going to church. I love listening to the lessons and learning from other people's points of view. I love that the scriptures have different meaning to different people based on their life situations and needs. And on the weeks that I don't get to go to class because my baby is overtired, cranky, and just needs to not be in that little room being quiet I can take to the halls where I will find other mamas with their little kids trying just as hard as I am to get something out of the 3 hours at church. And it's ok. It's ok that life is messy. It's ok that things don't always (ever) go as planned. Because the one thing that is consistent is the Savior and His love for us.
The lessons over the last few weeks (what I have been able to pick up from them) have really hammered on the message that we have a loving Heavenly Father and it doesn't matter where we are on our path as long as we are headed in the right direction. We have a Father that we can trust to be there for us no matter how far we are from Him. He is just waiting for us to turn to Him. Through all the chaos and uncertainty, my faith has been my grounding. I know my Father is helping me. I can see His hand in so many ways in my life. Little things and big. The coolant lines in my car burst as I was driving across the country and nothing else broke even though I put another 1000 miles on the car before realizing what happened and getting it fixed. I have a terrible time making good friends, but so many good people are literally asking to be my friend. My children have been thrown into a very difficult situation with huge adjustments and are not absolutely nuts. I have peace in my heart and help everywhere I turn which gives me hope. Hope that everything will be alright.
So yes. Church is hard. Momming is hard. And there are times when I feel overwhelmed and my efforts seem futile. But I know that God's got my back.
3 comments:
Amen. Sometimes it's only faith and hope that keep me slogging along this Mommying trail. Well said!
I remember well feeling like Sisyphus might have felt after week after week of helping get kids to church or taking care of them instead of being able to listen once we got there. But from my current perspective I can shout a resounding "It's worth it!" Remember the saying, "Tough times don't last. Tough people do." You can do hard things!
This is beautifully said. I remember these days. Your post brought back tender emotions. I believe that it does make a difference, going even when it doesn't seem like anyone gained anything from being there. Maybe it is a little like the story of the man pushing on the rock. He wasn't supposed to move the rock, he was supposed to strengthen his muscles by doing as he had been asked to do.
I think that I grew from those difficult days. And I think my children learned a little about how important listening to Heavenly Father was to me.
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I loved the ending of you blog. :) it is worth it.
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