A House of Worship

Today we took the boys to clean the church. They've set up a new system where each organization in the ward is responsible for a different part of the church building and it was my husband's turn to clean the Chapel.

This is a somewhat tricky arrangement and today was a challenging day to need to meet this commitment. We had a MILLION things that needed our time and attention, which, now that the day is nearly over, did not get done. We had tired boys. I mostly just fed the baby. But my sweet husband rallied the troops and put every able body to work. He brought kid-sized dusters and a small hand vac from home for the boys. They straightened hymn books and vacuumed crumbs. I also practiced the hymns I'll be playing on the organ for sacrament meeting tomorrow. The whole thing took nearly an hour longer than we had planned/hoped.

But what a privilege it is to care for our house of worship. I was trying so hard to explain to my two year old why we don't play soccer in the chapel. Over and over I kept saying this is Heavenly Father's House. This is where we take the sacrament. This is the most important room in the whole church. As I spent every few minutes breaking up a fight or calming a crying child, I had to remind myself that those words really are true. What a remarkable thing it is to show our love for the Lord by caring for his holy house. I've lived in places where the house of worship was a small rented house with no running water and electricity. I've met in churches where hundreds of people would fill a chapel (and over flow, and gym) every Sunday. The spirit of each ward is different, but one thing remains the same: we come together to worship in the Lord's House. No matter our differences, no matter our strengths or weaknesses, as we worship, we are one. A body of Saints. No longer strangers but fellow citizens in the kingdom of God.