Sunday Caos

B in the sunglasses she wears through most of church. M posing for the camera!

Most Sunday's I will admit I haven't prepared well enough on Saturday (what's that song about Sat. being a special day?!!) therefore my Sunday mornings are a bit chaotic. I am usually rushing to make it to church on time and usually lose my patience at the girls in the process. I seem to get upset at R too even though he has left for church over two hours prior to me leaving. (He seems to get in trouble when he isn't around...sorry dear!) Last week I got upset at the girls before church because they weren't hurrying. I lost my temper and thought how dumb it was that I was getting mad at my kids while trying to get out the door for church. Sounds a bit hypocritical! This week I decided no matter what I would not get angry at the girls while getting ready for church. This meant getting the diaper bag and all our clothes out on Sat. night. It also meant I showered the night before church and had all the items out so I would be ready to put the dinner in the crock pot. I went to bed feeling pretty good. I woke up and got ready and decided we would have time to go to church early so I could make copies before my meetings started. I got the girls up and started to get a bit pressed for time so thought, we'll still try to be early, but if we are just on time I'll be ok with that too! By the time we were all dressed for church (I had taken pictures so you know I was on time!) B decided she didn't want to come out to the car. I thought, fine, roll with the punches, I'll just put my bags and M in the car and go back and try to reason with B to get her in the car. When I went back to the garage door it was locked! Who knew B was even tall enough to reach the lock?!! I paniced a bit and then thought about not losing my patience and trying to resolve the issue. What to do? So here is a list of what followed:

*Call neighbor who has a house key, too bad they are almost at church

*Doesn't some James Bond type open doors with credit cards? I'll give it a try

*Credit card does not work

*Hear B crying so decide to get the neighbors involved

*Barge in on neighbors relaxing Sunday morning and get wire hanger and paper clip from them

*Hanger too big to fit in door lock, paper clip too flimsy

*Neighbor calls back and says his car in the driveway is unlocked and I can go get my key at his house through the garage (apparently his two year old didn't lock it on the way out to church)

*Start losing patience while walking through the grass in high heels (At least I wasn't mad at kids)

*Curse New York for having bumpy grass instead of lush grass

*Get key and open the door to find B playing through the glass door in back with M and our neighbor M!

*Drive to church and listen to non spiritual music, I feel I'm entitled!

*Arrive at church late

Through all this I question weather church is worth it. I decided maybe it isn't worth it right now when it is so hard getting out the door on time, but in the end, eternally, it is worth it. I thought, Lord, why couldn't I have just been on time to church, and then I realized I had learned a more important lesson than being on time. I learned that loving my kids and treating them kindly is more important than being on time. I also realized that maybe at this point in life it would be easier to just skip a few Sundays every once in a while, or not accept callings, but the bigger and more important thing is that I'm showing the Lord I am will to do what he asks of me. Not only am I showing the Lord this but I am teaching my children that too. So, weather I am late to church or not, I am grateful for the gospel and grateful that I am trusted with two of Heavenly Fathers most precious children.