A Woman at Church

My Sunday started with a visit to ward council in my capacity as ward Self-Reliance Specialist. We are gearing up for another cycle of groups, so that will keep me busy for the next three months. It was a good church day. The sacrament meeting talks were both excellent examples of figuring out how to give Christ our all without thinking that means we should be doing everything. It was a couple of young mothers, one on the front end of her husband's medical training, and one on the back end of her husband's dental specialty training. Those are good lessons to learn earlier than later. I am still working on them. Primary was amazing as usual. This time I just sat with some 4-year-olds while their teacher/counselor in the Primary presidency conducted the meeting. Then I stayed for music time with the senior Primary, taking roll for the RS secretary and watching my friend the master Primary music leader at work. It is a bit daunting to contemplate filling in for her for two wee...

I really love my bishop. He gave a beautiful, encouraging, hopeful, loving talk about repentance today about how it isn't the backup plan, it is the substance of the plan. It isn't there in case we mess up, it's there because we will mess up. That is all part of the plan, that we will be human and need to grow. Christ celebrates our growth; He doesn't scold it. I won't do the talk justice. I have a deep sense of gratitude for the Savior, and for this man He has called to lead my ward right now. Christ and the bishop have both helped me navigate my divorce with compassion. I have seen my bishop slowly come to understand my situation better and shift from a bias toward "saving" the marriage to trusting my judgment for myself and my family. There was not a true marriage to save. My "partner" did not want to do the work to become partner. It was enough. Christ's grace is sufficient, and it didn't require me to persist in a torturous relations...

Today at church a young woman quoted me in her sacrament meeting talk. "I am concerned when we suggest that the Atonement is anything other than infinite." I was honored. It wasn't so much that she quoted me from the pulpit as that something I had said had struck a chord with a young woman whom I love and admire. She described how after she heard me say that, she started noticing ways in which we in the Church sometimes imply that where we are isn't good enough to get where we are going. It is such a relief to realize that the Atonement of Jesus Christ bridges the entire gap, and what matters most is that we turn toward Him so we can cross the bridge. The bridge is always there. It reaches all the way to us, all the time. We just have to face the right direction. (This is me again now. She didn't talk about a bridge.) Our Primary president was out of town today so she asked me to be on hand to help her secretary, who was conducting the meeting while the counselo...

Today was our first Sunday with 2-hour church. I went to church at 9:00 a.m. and got home before noon, even though I spent a long time chatting with people after the meetings. It was nice! Sacrament meeting went by quickly. I didn't miss those extra ten minutes. Our bishop has been practicing for going without them for the past couple of weeks. There were 6 males and 5 females who bore their testimonies, which is about as close to balanced as we get in our ward. One of the males was the bishop, who conducted the meeting. It bodes well as a start to the new year. About three years ago I noticed that it seemed like more men bore their testimony than women in our ward. I expressed on the ward sisters' Facebook group a desire to hear from more women, for myself and for my sons and daughters. Since we have a fair number of young families, and one parent is sometimes called away for work, I offered to hold children or take them out in the hall if that would help anyone out. Since...