Remembering What's Important

On Tuesday, we had the missionaries over for dinner. (As a side note, that won't surprise most of you, my husband signed up to feed the missionaries but forgot to tell me. I found out around 2:00 that the missionaries would be there at 5:00. Luckily, my husband DID feel bad about forgetting to tell me, so he left work early, bought groceries for dinner AND flowers for me as a peace offering!) Anyway, during dinner the elders asked us about our neighbors, are they LDS? He asked if we had met all of our neighbors and encouraged us to meet those we hadn't and do some missionary work. At first I was sort of annoyed. I kept thinking, "I have 3 small children. I'm lucky if I get a shower some days, let alone, go and try to meet my neighbors." Later that evening, I realized that we MAKE time for things we feel are important. I make time to sew, craft, call the hospital for a refund (which by the way, I did get) and check my email. I can probably make time to go meet my neighbors or go talk to them when I see them outside.

I recently finished reading, Cat's Cradle by Chieko Okazaki. I loved it! What a neat lady and so down to earth. I really loved how she made serving and sharing the gospel seem so simple. One of my favorite quotes from her book is, "He (the Lord) must shake his head in disbelief as he watches us zoom past each other, very intent on our meetings and our schedules and our lists, when what he wants us to do is pay attention to each other and the human needs of each heart." I admit, I am a list maker. I'm getting better, but I like to get things done and it's hard for me to be interrupted.....my husband can attest to this. Our world is so fast paced and nuts that it's hard to remember that we are all children of God, we all make mistakes and we all need each other. What would life be without relationships, family and friends? Yet, if someone isn't our family or close friend, we tend to disregard them entirely. I hope that I can start to be aware of those around me, members of the church or not, and be more caring, friendly and genuinely interested in them. First, I've got to start with my kiddos.