How is it, after living on this planet for 30 years, that I STILL have a problem getting myself and my children “to the church on time”?! Seriously! You’d think I would have figured it out by now. Nope. Still a struggle.
Its even more humbling thinking about all the people around the world who have it much worse than I do. Some people have to get up much earlier. Some have many more kids than I do. Some have to travel much further to get to church. And some people live in much more difficult conditions. I admire them so much. I have no idea how Sister Nelson got 9 girls ready for church on time all those years!
The truth is I have absolutely no excuse. And honestly...know why I still struggle. It is the same three reasons I was late to school everyday growing up and why punctuality is still a hit and miss for me.
I really love my sleep.
I like feeling ready and prepared.
I’m overly optimistic when it comes to time.
It's the “Oh I need this! I’ll just grab it real quick…” and “Don’t forget that… we still have time!” Mentality. What I should be thinking is “I need to be in the car at this time, no exceptions.” And “I am going to get the bag ready the night before.” And “I must wake up at this time.” Setting my phone up across the room.
Coincidentally enough, that is exactly what the speakers talked about in church today! Being intentional. Thoughtful. Calculating. Planning ahead. Focusing on what truly matters most. Definitely something I need to work on. I must admit, my entourage and I (not including Scottie, he had to get to church early to help set up the live feed) definitely looked a bit more casual than carefully prepared for church today as we walked in at 9:05 am. I won’t bore you with the details, but my favorite part was that both our cute girls decided to wear rainbow leggings under their Sunday dresses today. Ha ha! I did not give myself enough time to plan and gather proper outfits. **forehead slap**
Needless to say, our sacrament experience also didn’t go as well as Scottie and I would’ve liked. After returning home we carefully (and firmly) reminded our girls why we need to be reverent during church. To improve our future Sabbaths, we’ve decided to TRY enforcing three new rules in our little Payne household. We’ll see how they go:
If we wake past 8:00, our Sabbath worship will be at home that Sunday. Because we still have the freedom and the wonderful priesthood blessing of Scott being able to administer the sacrament in our home--not to mention the option to watch the live stream of our wards Sunday program--it is not worth creating a stressful morning for ourselves and distracting others from feeling the Spirit. Things aren't what they were 10 years ago.
We feel that attending church with our ward is a privilege our kids need to earn. For the next couple of Sundays or so, until our girls have proven their ability to sit still and listen, we will be watching the live stream from home, partaking of the Sacrament, and watching a conference talk or two. In total, our little “Reverent Test” will last about 2 hours. :) As parents we’ve just about had it. Hopefully this will help.
No more toys or food during church. Perhaps a no-spill water bottle with a straw, but no food, and only writing materials. Boogie Boards work great! Maybe notepads and pencils or pens. I’m not so sure about coloring books and crayons though...I can see fights ensuing. **eye roll**
