Mother Lecture #368:

Good morning everyone! Time to get up and get ready for church. If you're coming up with excuses for not going, think about this:

(Paula Avey is speaking in church today. She sent out a request asking for ideas, quotes, stories, etc. to help her with her talk. This is what she received from her daughter-in-law Elizabeth. It's beautiful, and I felt like I should share it with those who are raising my grandchildren.)

Attending church: "I believe that everyone has their ups and downs as far as their testimonies go, sort of like a roller-coaster. I think this is completely normal, and actually beneficial because it forces you to work more diligently, studying the scriptures, spending more time pondering and praying to receive answers to "un-slumping yourself" or getting out of this spiritual. Too many analogies - of course. But anyway... TO MY POINT: when I am in a spiritual rut I think "I DO NOT want to go to church today! I am not in the mood to deal with "so and so" or "what's his face" and I didn't prepare well enough for this thing and they REALLY don't need me there for that thing, I have nothing to wear, I KINDA have a headache, church is RIGHT in the MIDDLE of the kids' naptime, I am running late anyway and I'd rather not have everyone stare at me as I make my way down the aisle..." my list of excuses to miss church goes on and on. But I almost always feel this nagging, guilty feeling that I can't seem to shake off. I know where I am supposed to be, even if I don't feel like going. So, when I eventually give into the Spirit and pull into the church parking just in time for the opening song (if I'm lucky) and I find my seat, I feel a wave of calm and peace wash over me. Then whether in Sacrament meeting or one of the following classes, I hear something that was the answer to my prayers, or even to something that had only been on my mind that I hadn't even prayed about, something so fitting to my life on that very day, that I thought FOR SURE this message was sent JUST for ME! I remember a time when I was younger, before I was even a member of the church, I went one time with my sister, who was, and still is, LDS. I had recently found out my mom was ill and it was really bothering me... what happens when we die? Well, that very Sunday they were talking about paradise and the different degrees of glory. My mouth about fell open and stayed there the whole hour, as I absorbed everything that I was hearing. I had such a strong feeling that what they were saying was true. I was only a child, and not even a member of the church, but I knew. When we attend church with an open mind and open heart, and be like unto a child, we can be open to feeling the spirit confirm that what we are hearing is true. If we leave our worries and cares of the world behind, even if just for 3 hours while at church, we can concentrate on what the Lord wants us to hear, or what we personally NEED to hear, in order to serve as an answer to our prayers, or to help "un-slump ourselves" from a spiritual rut, calm our fears, or whatever the case may be."

Remember, "Sunday is that one day that is different from all the rest!"

Consider yourself motherly lectured!

Happy Sabbath,
Y mom/nan