Sunday, as with SO MANY other aspects of parenting, brings me a much greater appreciation for my Mother. I love church. I have a testimony, I believe the doctrine. I also really enjoy Mormon culture, and the sense of community. Yet, I just don't love Sundays lately. Rick is rarely ever with us (his calling takes him to other areas), and we need to leave when Jane should be taking her morning nap, it's tough to get the kids ready (Rick is usually at his 7am High Council mtg) and then to keep everyone controlled during sacrament mtg. Jane doesn't nurse or nap well while at church, and Jacob hates nursery, so I have been staying in with him, and gradually increasing the amount of time I leave him at the end. (We're on the year-long phase in program.)My Dad was a Branch President for a while, but I mostly remember him as a Stake President (1st in England for 2 years & then in Australia for 9) in case you missed the math - that's 11 years. In both cases, he was released when they left the country! I am the eldest of eight kids, and I was 13 when my youngest brother was born. I remember my Mum taking us to church all the time by herself, and having no-one around on Sundays to help. I remember us all sitting in the row at church, and being pretty good. I don't think we were late - or if we were it wasn't so late that it was burned into my memory. I don't remember crying, screaming, hitting or fighting over snacks. I don't remember Mum ever losing her patience with us, or complaining that Dad wasn't there. I think Mum handled it really well. I think we were pretty well behaved (though time might have blurred some of my memories.) In fact, I don't think it ever occurred to me, that it might be a challenge for her to take care of us on Sundays without my Dad.
Now that I have half the number of children to take care of, I realize how much effort that must have been. This morning as I put a roast in the crock-pot to have dinner ready for the evening, I thought about how often Mum would prepare the Sunday meal in advance (she still does.) It led me to thinking about her Sundays, and mine. I know why she did it. She loves our Father in Heaven. She loves my Dad. She loves us. She knew the importance of teaching us what they believe, she knew the work my Dad was doing was helping many people, and was willing to have him gone from our family (though I am sure we had many blessings for this too.) I hope she also knew that it wouldn't last forever, and that one day he would be there more, and she wouldn't be so tired.
I love my Heavenly Father. I love Rick. I love my kids. I'm really going to try to think of this each Sunday morning. I'm going to remember that Rick is blessing the lives of others when he isn't with us. I'm going to remember that Jane will not need a morning nap by next summer, and that Jacob should be OK by himself in nursery by then too. I'm going to think of how much Rebekah gets out of her Young women's classes, and how wonderful Lauren is when she teaches Rebekah's Sunday school class. I'll think of how much Emily loves primary, and the things she learns there. I'm going to be grateful for the opportunities to have help in teaching my children what we believe. Hopefully one day, they will be coaxing a crying 2 year old into the car, firm in their testimonies, and they will appreciate my efforts.
3 comments:
That was a really sweet entry, Tan. I don't remember us fighting in church either - Mum really is amazing! I just remember liking to sit by Mum so I could fall asleep on her shoulder and later, when I learned the alphabet in sign language, I'd sit and sign-spell conversations with Corinne. They were good times...
I remember watching you all sitting there at church ,it was amazing to me I would have been 20 so that made you 10!! Your mum was an inspiration. Today we take up the whole row, we are always on our own as Brad has been Branch President for about 9 years we sit in the front row so he can at least give them a stare if they start to pinch each other or anything.I do find it a challenge getting them all ready on my own but we make it a game to see who can be ready first.Noah usually wins.It really is worth it.
I often think about how Mum behaved in church and use that to guide my own actions with Ethan--especially during the Sacrament. She was always such a good example.
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