The Day I Was Able to Think

Sundays are not always the most restful day around here.  I've wanted to somehow change that for a long time.  Last summer I was able to visit my parents ward and was amazed at how reverent their congregation was.  I learned some things during that visit that I have started to implement in our Sunday schedule.

I have cut snacks during church.  Periodically I have a meeting before church and if we're running a bit late I might pack some Cheerios for the kid's breakfast, but no more snacks in the chapel.  I have cut out toys like cars and action figures.  Instead, the boys bring totes with one book, one coloring pad, one Friend magazine, and one coloring activity or brag book filled with pictures of Christ.

At first, No.1 was upset about the new rules and No.2 would bum food off of others, but now they get along just fine.  With a 70-minute sacrament meeting, it can get hard for kids to be still, so I don't ever see myself being a mom that makes her kids sit the whole time with folded arms and eyes straight ahead (I've never actually seen one, but I'm sure she's out there), but I am satisfied with the improvement in reverence from my boys during the meeting.

Today, when I returned to the pew after playing the organ, I saw that there was no room for me so I sat behind my family.  I watched my boys sit quietly with my husband through the blessing and passing of the sacrament.  It was then that I realized, "Hey!  I'm not wrangling bodies!  I can actually reflect on the sacrament and it's meaning to me!"  At that point, I offered a small prayer of thanks for a quiet moment, for the atonement, and for my eternal family.

I am grateful for the opportunity I have each week to partake of the sacrament, an ordinance that allows me to renew my covenants I made at baptism.  Today I was able to think about those covenants and quietly ponder how I could better live them.


Here's to reverence in sacrament meeting.

Here's to quiet moments.

Here's to a Better Mommy Me.