Sunday Thoughts

I'm on day number 3 of no hubby (or me vs. the munchkins). At least this morning, the munchkins were way, way ahead. I think there was a grand total of about 45 minutes before church today when no one was crying or yelling (and church is at 1:00 and I did none of the crying and very little yelling). And I know I can't really complain -- I have some good friends whose husbands work a ton and they do it all on their own, not to mention those single moms out there (my sister-in-law included) and the fact that Ken does way more of the nights/weekends on his own than I do given that my schedule is so crazy. Anyway, church today is exactly what I needed -- to feel the Spirit and be uplifted. We had a great lesson on the Mary/Martha parable from the Bible and talked alot about priorities and balance.

A couple of things that struck me today (and a couple of talks that were quoted -- check them out on www.lds.org)

*Balance is about managing the different priorities in your life -- and part of the reason Martha was unable to listen to the Savior's words was because the was "cumbered about serving much." Our charitable outlook towards those around us (especially for me today towards the 3 year old!) can diminish the more we are "cumbered about" with all the things we have to do. It sometimes takes consciously stopping the "to do list" running in the back of your mind in order to focus. I have been thinking alot about what extra time-takers I can really do away with in order to focus more on those priorities that matter the most.

*Your priorities shift depending on the day and the phase of your life -- and this is okay. There are times where one will take more time and energy than another. I liked this quote:

"These {lists of priorities} are helpful, but only in a broad, general context. In real life, each day brings its own requirements. . . We may envision our daily tasks as a kind of seesaw, where one day something is “up” in importance and another day it is “down" . . . The point is that when we judge someone as we have perhaps judged Mary and Martha, we have forgotten that strengthening the individual and the family, serving in Church callings, and providing for temporal needs are all part of gospel living."

Anyway, some good thoughts from today. Thank goodness for some Sundays. Here are the talks: "Choosing Charity" by Bonnie D. Parkin and "Mary and Martha: Faithful Sisters, Devoted Disciples" by Evelyn T. Marshall