When faced with life's challenges,
it is Important to Remember
that although Daniel was saved from the lions,
he was not saved from the Lion's Den.


Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam


My current calling in church is to teach the three year old class.  It is a joy and a difficulty all at the same time.  I love them.  They love me.  When I am not there, they miss me, and when I am there, they argue over who gets my lap this week!  I have found a great deal of joy in being with those little children.  This week, I think that I learned a great lesson.
Class can be so interesting with five children who are so full of energy.  I spend the first part of primary in the primary room with all the children.  They sing, run around, do action songs, run around, sing some more, run around, and listen to the leaders.  Some days are much better than others.  This was one of the more difficult days.  After singing time, we head to the classroom for a snack and a lesson.  If I am very lucky, the lesson might last ten minutes.
This is the age where I am working with them on the 'sitting still' part of church.  We always do activities in my classroom.  One of them is usually a coloring activity.  This week, it was on Adam and Eve.  The other activity included glue and was the story of the creation.  My goal was to teach them to recite it back to me.  After wiggling through the lesson, a water break, a bathroom break, an activity break, a messing up break, and a picking up break, I decided that the best thing of all was just to get them all cleaned up before their parents came to get them.  They had managed to get glue all over their hands and looked up at me while holding their hands out as if to say, "how could you let this happen to us?  We can't clean this up all by ourselves.  We need help!"   I had to laugh as I washed their hands and faces and got them all fixed up and ready to go home.
But, with the laughter, I also started to wonder....how many times have I also gotten into messes just like my three year old Sunbeams?  Oh, not the glue kind of messes, but the type of messes that adults seem to be good at getting into.  Maybe I didn't take the time to read the scriptures,  I didn't listen to conference, I slept during Sacrament meeting, (OK, not me, I am too busy, I never get to sleep!  But, ohhhh, a Sunday nap sounds wonderful!)  I forget my prayers, I lose my temper, or I might even hold a grudge.  Maybe I talk bad about another sister, or I snap at my children.  How many mistakes have I made in my life?  How many times do I make messes and then expect my Heavenly Father to clean them up after me?  How many times have I pleaded to have the mess taken away?  How many times do I look toward Him and ask, "How could you let this happen?" 


During His ministry, The Savior described himself and His mission.   

Luke 4:18  The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.


He emphasized that He is a Healer.  The Atonement was not only to forgive our sins, but also, to heal our broken hearts.  He came to help us clean up the messes in our lives. He came to free us from the bondage of sin.  He came to make each one of us whole.
He came to help us, so that we can return home to live with our Heavenly Father once again.

2 comments:

  1. Great post! I love your last paragraph about the Atonement helping us clean up the mess in our lives.

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  2. Enjoyed your post here. I couldn't teach the 3 yr. olds, that is too young for me. Bless your heart for having the patience to teach them! I teach 5th grade boys and most Sundays really enjoy it!

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