Feeling it at Church!

In all my years of attending church (click here for LDS info)- never has sacrament meeting ever meant so much to me as it has the last 4 years. I am a firm believer in you get out what you put in. You have to be an active listener. It is my responsibility to feel the spirit and to learn - not the speakers responsibility. However, in the past few years I have started to question my stance.

When I attend other sacrament meetings (not my home) I do not feel the spirit as strongly. I am still wrangling 3 kids, sometimes I even have more help. I do not feel that my mindset is vastly different. So, I have often wondered, Why? Why this huge difference in the general spirit of the meetings? Is it the number in attendance, the more the harder to feel the spirit? That does not seem to make sense, but was the conclusion that I was arriving at, until today.

Today as I listened to my friend teach us about service from the heart, I understood what has made the difference for me. Here at home were the numbers are small, each person who teaches is my friend whom I love. Every word they utter is the heart felt words of a friend. I care immensely about their life experiences and the thoughts they have to share. I find myself during the week reflecting on the words they spoke. Do I listen more intently? I don't think so, but the words of a friend have more weight.

I believe I have found myself a challenge when the time comes for us to move and we find ourselves lost in the crowd. I will have to serve more and learn more about each person. That way each person who teaches is a friend and not just someone I go to church with on Sunday.

Many of you are probably shaking your head and thinking this is the same principle they have taught us about reading our scriptures. They are the Lords words and if he is a beloved friend and father then his words will have more meaning to us and we will have a greater thirst for them. I just had not thought to apply this to my regular church meetings.