Will Never Depart

When you have children, church is an exercise in patience. Longsuffering comes to mind. Some Sundays I feel like I am at battle with untamed lions. Cute ones, with their hair done. I sat in church and pondered this tidbit today. Week after week, I put on a darling skirt, paint my toenails, all in preparation for a faceoff with the lions. I looked around and realized that everyone has their own set of lions to deal with, and in spite of that fact, we were sitting there together. We love the Lord, and so we come. We also dearly love the untamed lions.

I realized today that the inspiration I receive each Sunday usually comes in a small snipet here and there. It comes when the lions are calm for 3.5 seconds, and I can actually hear what is being said. It comes because I want to hear it. In fact, I'm looking for it. Here is what I saw today:

• Three young women sang an amazing song, I could have listened to them sing for days. They repeated a phrase that stuck itself inside my thoughts, "My kindness will not depart". It made me look at all the ways the Lord tells me that He is intimately aware of all I face, and a lot of the time He shows me through the kindness of others. He might not remove my trials, or even make them lighter, but He sends kindess into my life, and it will never depart.
• One of our primary teachers is dying from breast cancer. She has 12 children. Her pain is immense and requires high doses of morphine. And here she sits in primary, with her cute class all around her. She is smiling. Her lesson to me will never depart.

So, the next time you are sitting in church with your untamed lions, just remember to look for those snipets. There they are, just waiting for you to see them. The gospel is true, and the Lord loves us enough to send us His kindness.....and it will never depart.