InsaneJournal

Current mood:

thoughtful

[PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT] Important, okay? Please read.
I love my (church) ward. I really do.

I mean, like a lot of people in my church, I've had a time when I've been inactive and a time when I've not followed the commandments like I should have. Even now, I'm not the BEST Mormon out there. I drink occasionally (New Years and June 14th), but that's about it on the Word of Wisdom. I'm a basically nice person and I know that I'd do anything for my friends that they'd need me to.

I like to think that this makes me a good Christian woman. That I do the things (more or less) that Christ wants me to do. I'm raising my son, and I think I'm raising him well. And he likes church, too, and I have THAT going in my favor. He looks forward to going, he gets upset when we DON'T go and he can't wait to serve a mission.

But back to my ward. They've really come together and been helpful when I needed them. They don't mind watching Jack at a moment's notice and one of the women there, her name's Patti, I really feel like she'd do anything for me.

She made this potato soup about two weeks ago when I was REALLY struggling to eat and it was INCREDIBLE. I'd never had potato soup before and it was seriously the best thing I'd ever eaten (at that moment in time). Of course, I hadn't eaten for three days, but that's the way it was for me then. And when I told her how much I appreciated it, she showed up to church the next Sunday with more for me. Cheese and bacon bits and the whole shebang. Now, I can't eat the bacon, but Kyle could and she knew that and went that extra mile.

So today, she was like, "I have this rug cleaner that I'd love to bring over so that we can get that taken care of before your surgery or even while you're in the hospital" (because the dog destroyed it) and when she brought it over tonight, she also brought MORE soup, cheese and bacon. :) That and twenty bucks for gas. It was a godsend, really.

Not to mention that she's going to take Kyle on Thursday and keep him distracted, cut his hair for him, and have over one of the missionaries that spent 18 months in Japan so she can talk to him. She's also arranged for Jack to spend the day with a couple of the women and I'm honestly just blown away by the generosity of the women in this ward. Relief Society or not, they're just so willing to be helpful.

Today's lesson in RS was on Unselfish Service and how we can help others and not expect anything in return and the ways we can do that and the list had like, twenty-five COMMUNITY related things on it - not just church related things. Volunteer opportunities and missionary opportunities and the things we can all do for each other, even if it's just calling someone up, someone you don't know well, to find out how they're doing, is such an amazing way to not only broaden your horizons, but reach out and possibly make someone's day.

It was just a really touching lesson for me because I've had to learn, over the course of a very short time, how to accept from other people the BIG kind of help and love. From Lani's large gesture to Rach's always being there, to Meredith driving down for two hours not even to talk so much but to just spend time.

All of you who IM me to ask how I'm doing and leave me comments or tweets to say how you're thinking of me -- I don't think you understand how much that all means to me. If I didn't love you, I wouldn't talk to you and I wouldn't RP with you and I wouldn't invite you into my life.

Needless to say, I am glad that you're there and I am so, so very grateful to know all of you.

♥