Stake Conference.
So on the fifth and final day of Casey being MIA, it was stake conference.
STAKE CONFERENCE.
The older (more mature, gasp!) I get, the more and more I get excited for ward and stake conferences, not only general conference.
But with Casey being gone, I thought to myself,
why in the heck should I be going to Stake Conference? I have 3 boys under 3, I am in no place to be going to a meeting like that with all of my children alone. Am I really going to be able to listen to any of it? If I go I will have to ask other people to help with my children and essentially ask them in turn to not listen to the meeting either.
Regular church is a circus enough which is 1 hour and 10 min of needing to sit, be still, and stay in our row juggling the children. Regular church is hard let alone TWO hours without my husband.
But as soon as I questioned myself in not going I immediately thought
well what will I do, stay home? Yeah, that is so not happening. I'm not just going to stay home from church on a Sunday for no good reason. I have to be at church, that's where I need to be.
As I told a few others my concerns everyone of course offered to help, I just felt so bad accepting their help knowing they weren't going to get nearly as much out of conference if they helped. But the kicker was when I was at a Relief Society activity this last week and our bishop overheard my pity party he said
It takes a village, Kimber.
And boy does it ever.
I can't do this motherhood thing alone, I have too many needy children to do this alone and not accept help. Even if I only had one child, "the village" can teach that one child so much more wonderful things beyond what I know.
So I went. I went to Stake Conference "alone" with my 3 small children but I wasn't really alone.
I knew I needed to be at church, at the 2 hour stake conference meeting. I would be obedient to the promises and covenants I have made.
But as learned from the scriptures, faith without works is dead.
So the night before I prepared like preparing for the Sunday-church apocalypse. Snacks and activities galore. Fruit loop necklaces, new busy bags, brand new planes and motorcycles to play with. I knew that if I was prepared I would not fear.
I had ideas in my mind of what I'd do with the children. Asking different people to help potentially. And then an angel friend of mine texted me that night asking if her and her husband could help with the babies tomorrow. Tender mercy from the Lord, you do your best and let the Lord do the rest. I also had my cousin and her children staying with us that night who attends our stake and she said she was would help with the kids too.
So armed with the diaper bag, a snack bag, a toy bag, my double stroller, 3 children, and 3 additional adults we divided and conquered.
We sat in a side room watching and listening to the stake conference with 5 other families (one being my cousin, one being my friend who texted, one being a woman in our ward with her 2 boys who then helped entertain Maxson, that woman's parents, and one other family with young children) (
EXTRA TIP! sitting in a side room at stake conference is actually more quiet than sitting in the main room!). There was no pressure to be perfectly behaved and quiet. Max had space to be a little more rowdy than normal church but it was ok and I didn't have to be stressed over his behavior. The children were well attended to between all the extra hands, I was able to listen to parts of conference and LEARN from the spirit why I was there and what my heart and mind needed to learn. It was so wonderful.
(This is my cousin Nicole who helped us, notice her husband couldn't come either! She's such a great example of everyday righteousness!)
Obedience brings forth blessings, my friends.
That is true and I know it.
