Sunday

Sunday was one of those days when you come away with your soul touched, your testimony increased and your well filled to the top. For some reason, I have really been missing my mother lately. I think partly because of this new calling and wishing I could run to Provo and talk to her about it. I greatly miss her words of solace, wisdom and understanding and mostly sensing and accepting the mood I happen to be in. It has been seven years this last July that she passed away. One of the sisters in our ward stood up and talked about her mother and how she missed her. It was a sweet moment for me to relate to her words and feel with her the loss of a mother. I thought about my five younger children and wondered how often they have moments of sadness that their mother was taken from them so early in their lives. I've thought about my roll in their lives as the 'new mother' and wondered (as I often do) if I have come close to being the mother Judy would have been. I am grateful for memories, for pictures, for journals. Those to me, are the little mercies, the small gifts given to us as we experience our lonely moments. It is nice to know that the sun is always there behind those clouds and the sunshine will appear after the storm.

Then in Gospel Doctrine our lesson was on Jonah. Remember the story? Jonah was called by the Lord to go preach to the people of Nineveh. Remember what a wicked, wicked people they were. Jonah runs as far as he can in the other direction, even getting on a ship to take him across the waters. A storm comes up and he is swallowed by a great whale and three days later is cast upon the shores. I couldn't help but think of the times when I have received callings in my life when I've wanted to run as fast as I could in another direction but after much soul searching, prayer and going to the temple, like Jonah, I repent, accept the calling and am cast upon the shore to do the Lords will. Why do we doubt our abilities? Why do we have to swallowed in doubt before we humble ourselves and trust that whatever help or talents we may need, the Lord will provide. I love that Bible story.

Yes, Sunday was a great day!!