Yesterday was our first Sunday back to church meetings
in our building since COVID struck.
It was nice to see friendly faces that we hadn't seen in months!
Our new church schedule is a little different than before, but
we are finding strength in gathering together-- no matter what it looks like.
And just like usual, Nicholas and Lottie disappeared after our meeting was
over and ran around the building with the other kids
enjoying the familiar faces and their church friends.
(Which is why they are not featured in our after church picture).
I spoke in church about ministering, and how my family
has been so blessed by our ministering brothers and sisters.
I don’t know about you, but these past few months have been difficult for me.
With all five of my children doing some kind of school from our home,
each morning I wake up to an inbox loaded
with reminders, alerts, and deadlines.
There are COVID concerns, unrest in the world,
and in our communities, and lots of restrictions.
As a mother, I feel like I am barely hanging on with all the overwhelming tasks
that I feel I can’t keep up with or perform.
After an exhausting day of keeping children on task,
and coming this close to strangling one of my children,
I found myself sitting alone at our dining room table turned school classroom.
Cords and computers, papers, books, and binders filled the tabletop.
Soon it would be time to cook dinner which would then be followed by the clean-up
and then the demanding bedtime routine would begin.
On top of that, my house looked like a bomb had dropped inside it,
meanwhile our dog lapped up the dirty dishes in a half-stacked open dishwasher.
I said a simple little prayer- just a few words really.
Something like: “Heavenly Father I need the energy, the patience,
and love to finish up the rest of the day.”
I felt prompted to call an older sister in our congregation to whom
I had never had a conversation with before.
I was calling her to check in with her, but instead, I found myself in tears
as she genuinely and lovingly ministered to me.
She shared with me her words of strength, advice, and wise direction.
She testified of God’s power to help us in hard times, and
I felt uplifted and inspired as I hung up the phone.
I was overwhelmed with God’s confidence in me and
I also had an extra spring in my step, energy in my drained body,
and I felt like my patience batteries were powered up.
Sometimes when we think we’re ministering to someone;
they are actually ministering to us.
“His life on earth was [an] invitation to us—to raise our sights a
little higher, to forget our own problems and [to] reach out to others.”
I ended the night with dinner in front of a Zoom meeting.
(My 4th of the day).
