My husband is currently serving as the bishop of our congregation. So he’s gone a lot more on Sundays. This past sunday was an especially busy day. It texted him to ask when we could fit in our family Gospel study, Come Follow Me time for the day. I had to be ready for when he walked in the door in between things. So I prepared what I hoped would be a lesson to capture my kids attention and teach them a few principles of the Gospel.
On Sundays we try spend more time together. It felt all day like my middle child’s volume control was stuck on maximum. We played a lot of board games. And I interrupted multiple fights. I lost my cool with one of my kids.
My teaching game I’d prepared didn’t go as I’d hoped. They were distracted from my spiritual message that I was trying to get across and my frustration was becoming apparent in my teaching. I shortened my lesson to end and instead wrapped it up in “it just all comes back to Jesus.”
It was a completely imperfect sabbath.
But there were some really amazingly wonderful highlights squished in between all the mundane highlights regular moments. Moments when the Holy Ghost felt strong around me and we enjoyed each other’s company.
Remember, you are not alone.
Gary E. Stevenson
Life is filled with so much regular stuff. Laundry and bills. Spills in the kitchen and kids arguing over a toy. It can be mundane and consistent. That is why it is essential I find Jesus in my days. It is why I need to look past the spills and the laundry and find Him in those too. He’s not waiting in the church hallways or the temple. He’s here, in the kitchen and the living room.
I find Jesus in my kitchen when we stop the noise and pause to pray over our food. Even when someone struggles to hold still for the prayer. Or when a child says something hilarious in the middle of the prayer and we are all holding in the laughter. When we stop and say even the short hurried prayer we are giving opportunity to find Jesus.
I find Him when we work together at the end of the meal to clean up the kitchen and we laugh and talk. He’s in my kitchen when I am making something nourishing to send to a sick neighbor. Jesus is in my kitchen, when I gather my kids around the island for an afterschool snack. As I nourish their bodies it provides opportunities to let Jesus nourish their souls.
I find Jesus when I sit and study the scriptures. When I let the words of the scriptures truly come into my heart and mind. When we give any time to His word, it will help us find Jesus more in our days. It is one of the greatest ways to see and hear Jesus.
When I discuss the day with my husband before we go to sleep, and when we kneel together to pray for our children. I find Jesus when a child comes to me for comfort in the middle of a fight. And when I take a breath to calm myself before I discipline a child.
Life can be so overwhelming. And especially lately with all the craziness of the world. But in between the moments when the crazy seems to smother out all the goodness, we can find Jesus. If I let it always come back to Jesus, He is always with me in every little thing I do.
Claim the promises of the Savior of the world. Ask for the healing balm of the Atonement for whatever may be troubling you or your children. Know that in faith things will be made right in spite of you, or more correctly, because of you. You can’t possibly do this alone, but you do have help.
Jeffery R. Holland
On Sunday, I barely left my house, but I could still find Jesus. As long as I invite Him into my heart, He is with me. Then everything can come back to Jesus.
All Images by Rhonda