I am teaching sharing time in primary on Sunday and I'm pretty excited.
We are having a lesson on Reverence.
(Cause we need it. Summer gets a little wild:)!)
To start I am going to tell a very simplified story of
Finding a Treasure:
I have always loved collecting sea shells.
But the one I found on this particular day is special.
I found it on South Beach in Oregon half tucked in the sand like this one:
I loved South Beach because you could walk 100 yards into the ocean and the water would barely cover your rain boots.
There were always pieces of sand dollars at this beach, and I really wanted one.
We came alone to the beach. And by alone I mean we were new and alone to Oregon and Ben was working.
He worked 355 days of the 365 days that year - and not 8 to 5 - sun up to after sun down.
Moms of young kids know the feeling of constant chaos and needs of little people and the irony of feeling so isolated when you're constantly surrounded.
And I felt it, even while I loved watching these cute kiddos run around:
To make it more poignant,
While we were there we saw these people on the beach:
Doesn't that look fun?
I wished I could do that.
But they don't let moms with 3 babies go.
Then, I turned around and saw this:
I could see Ben and I doing that. (Except I would look super unskilled.)
But he was working.
At that point, I had a hard time seeing when these circumstances would ever change.
This was heavy on my mind. I prayed for peace while I stood quietly and watched the waves.
After walking just a couple more steps in the water
I stopped and looked down to find my treasure:
Three days before we came here I wrote down my list of goals on my blog and I had listed: find a sand dollar.
I'll be explaining to the kids that this treasure has to be handled carefully and kept in a special place.
How do we treat treasures? How I take care of a treasure is respecting it. In a similar way, we can treat treasures that are Heavenly Father's with respect and care. In places such as the temple, church, or, the scriptures, our family, and even ourselves. This is showing reverence to Him.
Psalms 46:10 says,
"Be still, and know that I am God."
If I had been doing this:
I never would have found this:
Finding treasures of knowledge don't always come from fun adventures, they come from quiet moments of reverence and reflection.
And that can bring true happiness.
Wherever you are.
Really, our outside circumstances can be beautiful or holy in and of themselves, but it is what's inside us that determines reverence or holiness to us.
We have been counseled to stand in holy places. Here are some other "holy places" to me:
even though it looked more like this:
“Reverence is an attitude toward Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ... It is something we feel
inside our hearts no matter what is going on around us.” L. Tom Perry
In church, keeping our bodies still
literally helps prepare our hearts and minds to receive inspiration.
And let the spirit teach us about God.
"Be still, and know that I am God."
California does have a lot to do, but I am hoping to find more treasures by finding balance.
We sure do miss South Beach!!
Rev'rence is more than just quietly sitting:
It's thinking of Father above,
A feeling I get when I think of his blessings.
I'm rev'rent, for rev'rence is love.
When I'm rev'rent, it shows in my words and my deeds.
The pathway to follow is clear.
And when I am rev'rent, I know in my heart
Heav'nly Father and Jesus are near.
Some of the basic ideas aren't mine, they're from a friend from another wards' sharing time, but I heard it was good and she let me use them!
