Guest post by Sarah Keenan:
Toddlers and sacrament meetings don’t mix to begin with.
Does anyone else feel like sacrament reverence has gotten so much harder post-pandemic shutdown?
My 18-month-old was born a week before the shutdown and didn’t go to church in person for most of his life and now that we are finally back, the time feels full of snack dumps, meltdowns, and attempted pew escapes.
Every sacrament meeting feels like a battle, and I often leave getting absolutely nothing from it.
It really makes me feel guilty sometimes.
And this week was stake conference.
2 hours of straight meetings.
No part of me wanted to go.
There was a zoom option available, and I thought it would be better for everyone if we stayed home.
But I felt a prompting to go in person.
So my husband and I packed snacks and loaded the church bag and went with two kids in tow.
Grudgingly.
As I was listening to the opening hymn, I read this scripture from D&C 108, verse 1:
“Your sins are forgiven you, because you have obeyed my voice in coming up hither this morning to receive counsel of him whom I have appointed.”
I didn’t get much out of that meeting either.
The kids still had meltdowns.
I had to get a vacuum after the meeting because of all the crumbs that littered the ground in our section of the chapel.
But I no longer felt bitter.
I felt forgiven—just for coming.
Coming to church in person isn’t always possible, especially with Covid restrictions.
And Zoom church is a fantastic option that should be utilized.
✨The lesson I learned was less about coming to church in person and more about coming to the Lord and receiving his forgiveness.✨
Sometimes I feel like my sins can’t be forgiven until I totally overcome a trial or weakness.
But God’s forgiveness is available for everyone who is trying to follow him.
Everyone who is “coming hither…to receive counsel” from God and his chosen servants.
God’s forgiveness isn’t only at the finish line.
When we do as Rosemary M Wixom taught and “take one simple step forward in faith—and then another”
We can be forgiven
And we can be blessed.
come follow me daily 