Christmas is Up!

The weekend after Christmas we completed decorating the house but I think this angel is the cutest decoration of all.

Sophie wearing our tree skirt as a..well,...skirt!

I've also spent the past couple of days helping out at our church receiving and logging in nativities and artwork for our community's annual nativity exhibit.  It is always so fun to work with people I don't usually see often or even know because they attend church in another congregation. It's fun to hear the stories attached to the items that come in. I always learn something interesting and gain new acquaintances, if not friends, by the end of my time volunteering. Not too bad!

So something happened the first day during the checking in of nativities that got my feathers all ruffled. There were just too many cooks in the kitchen trying to deal with one person's items which the computer system had mixed up and we were all trying to straighten out but in different and often in conflicting directions. Meanwhile, the woman lending the nativities was becoming anxious and needing to leave.

In my evening prayers with my Heavenly Father, I shared that I felt unsettled about the moment, that this moment stuck out from the others that day. While I pondered on it with His help, I came to understand the part I played in it. I also felt He wanted me to address it.

The next morning, at the start, I approached the ladies involved and said I wished to apologize for the inappropriate manner in which I handled the situation the day before. I explained that I had become anxious, felt concern for the lady's time, and instead of expressing this verbally or removing myself from the situation, I let my foolish pride take over and tried controlling others even though the end result of logging the nativities would be wrong. I told them that Heavenly Father had helped me to see this and I was sorry.

The coolest thing is that they had all felt similarly and it opened up a conversation not about who was right or wrong but providing solutions and mutually deciding what we would do so it would not happen again. I felt the Spirit return to our interactions, even strengthen us, and the rest of the day was great. And good thing too, because Heavenly Father must have known how slammed we were going to be that second day with more than twice the amount of items coming in the first day!

This is why I value my relationship with Heavenly Father. If I will give Him my time and humility, He helps me understand the bigger picture and what things I might try without making me feel like garbage. Even when I mess up, He sees the good in me and helps me learn, grow, heal. He gives me opportunities to repent and use Jesus' atoning power. It reminds me of one of my favorite verses, Hebrews 12:6, "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth" This is just one personal example of how I know Heavenly Father is mindful of us and is concerned with the details of our lives. His love and guidance is often manifested in the small and simple, day to day experiences of my life and I love Him for it!