Acts of Service

On Saturday night I had a nightmare where I forgot my Sunday lesson at home. I stood in front of the Gospel Doctrine class trying to teach my lesson from memory, but failing miserably.

On Sunday morning, I printed off my lesson, cleaned, make cookie dough, baked nine dozen cookies, made breakfast, supervised showers, folded two loads of laundry, ironed Sunday clothes, washed dishes, packed the Sunday bags and left for church - running late. We arrived in sacrament meeting, settled in on the bench and I reached in my bag to take out my lesson so I could glance over it again. It was not there.

You'd think when Heavenly Father actually warns me that I am going to forget my lesson, I would listen - but life was too crazy to check one more time as we rushed out the door. I debated for about two minutes before deciding I had to go back and get my lesson off the kitchen table. It is a 15-20 minute drive each way to my house from church. I motioned for a friend to meet me in the hall, asked her to watch my children and then raced home and back. My lesson went well, my friend sat with Max during the primary song and everything was fine. I am grateful for her service.

We are often blessed with acts of service and this week was no exception.

• Marsha came by on Wednesday morning and picked up my children for the free movies. This allowed me to fit the rest of the kids in the van and meet her there. She then followed me to the bank and my attorney's office and stayed with the kids so I could run inside quickly during business hours. I love Marsha and I love sharing my new calling with her.
  
• Marley brought over pulled pork sandwiches for the kids one afternoon - he's going to be a great missionary as his heart is already so tuned to service.
• Ken and Brad pulled up the thistle in the backyard after joining us for our first summer BBQ.

The Wagley's came over on Saturday to help me pull the IKEA bookcases from the car. Deb set up the bookcases in the living room while Tag set up the one in the toy room. James pull out the dead trees in the yard and then disappeared with my van for a few hours and returned with it sparkling clean. For that, he should be awarded a medal for bravery.


I am humbled by the many acts of service we receive. There are so many wonderful, kind people in the world and I am proud to call many of them my friends. Part of my lesson on Sunday was on the importance of choosing your friends wisely and surrounding yourself with people who will rejoice in your successes and comfort you in your time of need. I have been blessed to find good friends throughout my life and hope that I can be the best kind of friend to them.

"Service changes people. It refines, purifies, gives a finer perspective, and brings out the best in each one of us. It gets us looking outward instead of inward. Righteous service is the expression of true charity, such as the Savior showed."
--Derek A. Cuthbert, "The Spirituality of Service", Ensign, May 1990, 12