September 2022, Week 4

*Today in church we had the Primary Program!  It was so sweet, and yes, I brought (and used) more candy corn, and my little class was so brave and spoke right into the microphone on their turns and sang the songs so well.  The Spirit was there, and I am grateful to be part of Primary again.  Probably the best part of the program was the last speaker, who is one of my Primary Activity Boys who has autism.  He at first said something unintelligible, but then repeated his part with help, and then finished with a big, "Hi Mom!" and a wave.  So sweet.

It was a delight!

September 2022, Week 3

*Today at church we had some speakers who are new in the ward.  It's not hard to find those these days!  They remind me of when we pulled up our stakes and moved to Texas, away from our family and friends, only to find new "family" and lots of friends waiting to welcome us here.  We are blessed--and haven't felt the call to move away from here yet. 

*Ben and I were asked to play a musical number, so we did one that we do every couple of years (since our audience changes frequently!)--I accompanied him on "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing," arranged by Sally deFord.  It's nice and slow and easy, and it turned out well. (I didn't even forget how to read music, or where middle C is, which is often my fear right before I play!)  I know I'm a pretty mediocre pianist, and will almost assuredly make a mistake (or many), so I always pray that I will be able to add to the spirit of the meeting instead of take away from it.  I think we were able to achieve that.

*It was the practice for the Primary Program, and yikes--being in charge of half of the Sunbeams is almost as hard as being in charge of the whole thing!  Our Primary President had a baby a few weeks ago, and this was her first Sunday back, and our music leader was on a cruise for three weeks and wasn't back yet (but had found a very capable sub for those three weeks), so it was maybe understandably a little hectic. My concern was a cute Sunbeam who did NOT want to sit with us, until I remembered the candy corn I tucked in my bag that morning, and suddenly we had a fairly compliant friend.  I have learned from watching and being intimately involved in MANY Primary Programs (or Primary Sacrament Meeting Presentations, if you want to be technical) that no matter how hectic things seem while practicing, or how much more song/speaking/seat finding practice you think they may still need, the kids always manage to bring the Spirit.  That lessens the stress load for everyone.  And sometimes candy corn bribes are perfectly acceptable.

It was a delight!

September 2022, Week 2

*Today at church I really appreciated the time we have been studying Isaiah this week as it made my Sacrament Meeting more profound.  Not only have we read chapters 1-12 for Come, Follow Me, but Ben and I read in Mosiah 14 when Abinadi quotes Isaiah 53, and his words and the music that Handel used in the Messiah have really stayed with me this week--particularly the phrase "and with His stripes we are healed." It went over and over in my mind as we were taking the Sacrament, and I was feeling healed and grateful for His willingness.  Then, the youth speaker gave his talk about the duties of a Teacher, and he said the most important duty was preparing the sacrament.  He quoted a story of a lady who was visiting a ward with typically few members, but there were a lot of extra people that day, so they had to bless the bread again, and after that, her husband was the only one who had not had the opportunity to have any, and so they blessed one more piece of bread for him.  She was reminded of the sacrifice that Jesus made, and how willing He would be to do it for one person.  Then she said she watched the Priests cover up the table with the white cloth, and it looked like Jesus's broken body, and it hit me again how He willingly gave us his body and his blood, bit by bit to each of us, so that we could be healed and whole.  One more thought that I was gifted was from Isaiah 6, when Isaiah is writing about his call to be a prophet.  He felt unworthy to be the one called, and the saraphim came to him with a piece of coal (fire/light) and put it on his lips to cleanse him.  The podcast I was listening to reminded me that I can have that cleansing power in my own life each Sabbath as I touch the bread and water to my lips as I take them into my body.  He is my Bread of Life, my Living Water, my Light, my Healer, and I am eternally grateful.

*Today after church we had choir practice after another hiatus.  We have a new director and she asked me, as well as a few other pianists in the ward, to help with some songs until someone is officially called.  I got the music on Friday and didn't realize I'd be the lone pianist for the practice, and I was not prepared.  I did not like feeling unprepared, so I have some work this week to remedy that.

It was a delight! (Minus choir practice.) 

September 2022, Week 1

*Today at church I was starting to feel a bit sick, but I was scheduled to teach the lesson, so I stuck it out and taught my little hooligans about Proverbs.  They were a little on the wild side today, but honestly, since we have our class at 3:00 in the afternoon after the kids have been sitting still for Sacrament Meeting and for Singing Time, I don't care that much about them sitting on the floor instead of chairs and giving a twirl now and then as long as we have eye contact for the lesson--plus I didn't have much energy to make a big deal about it.  My co-teacher seems on board with having movement during our lessons, too, so everyone is happy.

*Today after church we loaded up the car and headed to Oklahoma City.  The drive was so pretty with lots of cows and farmland.  Tomorrow we're going to check out the Six Flags Frontier City, since there's no school for Labor Day.  I'm hoping my developing cold won't develop too severely and we can have a fun day together!

It was a delight!