Church Attendance

Sometimes, in the throws of church drama (crayon hoarding, whisperless voices, and overall disruptive behavior) the spirit of a given meaning is lost. Aside from the deodorant failing and clothes that many not be in their original location, the horrible thought creeps in, "Why am I here?" or better yet is the meeting that drags on eternally with nothing to keep your interest and you wish the kids good liven things up a bit.

It's nice that church attendance is a commandment because there are many excuses that try to prevent such attendance. But, you never know when someone will answer your prayers through a comment or a certain scripture might make more sense from the point of view of someone else. Which makes the scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants more meaningful:
"Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together."

Today was one of those days when the speakers bring such a strong spirit that one can't help but be uplifted. The topic was on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. All three speakers testified of the love the Savior and Heavenly Father had for the children of men to follow through with the Plan of Happiness.

Then, in primary, I had the opportunity to witness the love of our Heavenly Father for His children. A group of 5 year old boys were being a bit rowdy during sharing time. I offered to sit with the boys and encouraged quiet behaviors in ordered to participate. For those of you unaware with Primary procedures, participation is determined by little popsicle sticks with a primary child's name on each one. That way, the leader can draw randomly and give a fair spread of involvement.

One of the kids started tearing up and exclaimed, "I'll never be called, my name isn't even in there." I tried to think of how to solve the problem. I even offered to scrounge through the 100 odd sticks to find his name, but he still felt more than sad. The thought came--Pray. Heavenly Father loves this boy. The sadness this child felt was fervent and real. No sooner then I said amen, his name was pulled. Aside from participating, his answer and roll of the dice won the game for everyone. Coincidence? No. When he came back to his seat, I couldn't help but lean over and say, "I think Heavenly Father must love you a lot."

Finally, during another sharing time (there is one for the younger kids and another one for the older kids just fyi), a teacher was talking about eternal families. One scripture that he mentioned was Mathew 18:18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. . I often thought of this scripture in the context of marriage and the power of Temple Marriage. It surprised me when he asked about the "loose" portion of the scripture and was looking for a positive response. Then he asked the rhetorical question, "Can't our sins be loosed in heaven aka we can be forgiven of our earthly sins when we repent so they are remembered no more in heaven?"

Our Heavenly Father knew what He was asking and what we would receive by attending our church meetings. You never can tell when you will stumble on such refreshing and revitalizing snippets of truth.