Sing in Church, You Won't Regret It

I was able to have 5 hours of non-children bliss last Sunday.  No snotty noses using my person as a kleenex. No sticky fingers desecrating my already stained clothes. No head butting me in the face. No screaming, crying, coughing, whining, pouting, and the like. I will admit, it was enjoyable.

This is what I'm talkin' about folks

Little Goob not feeling well

I tried to get Mr Medic to trade staying home with sickies halfway through church, but he said "You need it more than I do" Im not sure if that was an insult or an...insult!  jk. Anyway...I knew I had to make his sacrifice to stay home worth it. To show my appreciation, I needed to be able to perform the coming week as if I'd had a weeklong vacation to the Bahamas. I needed to be patient, sweet, and pleasant.  I sat quietly asking Heavenly Father to help me do this. 

We sang the opening hymn, "Lead, Kindly, Light" and as I belted out the words (yes I actually do that when I can hold the hymnal and follow along without distraction)  the line "I love to choose and see my path; but now, lead thou me on!" pierced my heart.  

I've sung this song countless times, but never before had that line been important to me.  I sat thinking, "Am I going to be the person who makes my own choices without thought of what the Lord wants...the person who has to see what's ahead without stepping forward?  Or am I the patient, humble, and willing person who allows the Lord to direct me?"

I took some time to search the scriptures for additional support of the idea of being lead.  I came across this gem:

"And ye cannot bear (cross referenced to mean understand) all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours." -Doctrine and Covenants 78:18

 It wasn't a direct answer to my plea to be patient and more pleasant at home, although I do believe letting the Lord lead me will give me sufficient practice in being patient, but it was an answer to many situations in life right now.

Even though I do not understand the reason for all things I still need to be happy and allow the Lord to lead me on a path toward lasting joy.

I felt at peace and I can honestly say I was pretty patient, sweet, and pleasant to these fellas for 4 WHOLE DAYS...all because I sang in church ;)

Spiritual Giant

This picture represents one of my most rewarding mom moments of all time.  The picture itself has no significance other than the way my sweet Twodles looked when he said something that made me feel like all my efforts as a momma were worth it.  I don't ever want to forget!

I sat feeding Goob his usual breakfast fav, oatmeal while Twodles fed himself like a big boy.  Twodles is currently in the "why" or  "what does that mean" stage, which is actually really exciting to see his little brain connecting ideas and learning.

Today's Q&A session began with "what does aftermoon (afternoon) mean?"  I explained.

His next question was "when is church?"  I told him that it was on Sunday, in the afternoon.

He smiled.

Then I asked "do you like church?" He replied "yes!"

When I asked why he liked church I was expecting him to say something like "goldfish" which is the snack he has during sunday school, or some other 2-year-old appropriate response. Instead he blew me out of my seat.

"I like the Spirit...do you like the Spirit mommy?"

Immediately tears came streaming down my face (which you know sparked another question "are you sad mommy?" hahaha)  I couldn't believe that my little boy could say something so perfect, completely unscripted or memorized.

I took the time to tell him I had happy tears, and that I did in fact love the Spirit.

At some point something that Mr Medic and I have said or done has sunk into his tiny heart and he knows that at church we feel the Spirit.

I hope to always help him have opportunities at church and at home to feel the Spirit and remember that he likes it.

<3

Life Lessons

Two is a hard age to be, and to live with!  Luckily there are moments of excitement and development that make all the tantrums and whining worth it.  Being able to teach a life lesson and have it be somewhat understood is one of those moments!

I've always been taught about the importance of paying tithing or 1/10 of all your increase.  It's returning to God some of what is already His to begin with.  I know without question that tithing is one of the sole reasons we aren't starving and have our needs met.  

Twodles was able to pay tithing for some birthday money he got from Grandpa!  He thought it was so neat!

Sunday Life Saver

I'm having a VERY hard time giving up the infant car seat for Tudles (my 13 month old son).  You might think it's because I am in denial that he is not a baby anymore, as BabyCenter's weekly email titled "Your TODDLER this week" kindly reminds me.  But no, its not that!  I've got a bad case of Parental Insanity during 3 hours of church.  Toodles will take the occasional afternoon nap during church ONLY if he is strapped in to that lovely apparatus.

I think about the fact that he really needs a forward facing TODDLER seat every time I see those legs curled up in the car or like today when I put him in it during church and his feet were literally hanging 3 to 4 inches off the end.  Picture this...

OK not that bad!  I know some of you are thinking how unsafe this is, but honestly we are planning on getting one just as soon as Mr. Medic lands a super sweet J-O-B (keep your eyes and ears peeled for anything medical, preferably, and pass the word along.  We will love you Sandlot style)

Anyway back to the point.  Tudles usually falls asleep just long enough for me to focus on the most important part of church, taking the sacrament or bread and water.  But of course after a good 30 minutes of effort, he didn't fall asleep.  So I decided to keep the kid strapped in.  To my surprise he lasted a whopping 45 minutes allowing me to still be focused and to actually listen to the talks.  It was my Sunday life saver!  

I was just telling Mr. Medic this very morning that I dread church because Tudles is so disruptive and I don't hear a single word that is spoken.  Blessings do come in mysterious ways, even if it does require you to look like a total white trash weirdy keeping your child strapped in a car seat that is far to small!