Enduring

When you’ve been wholly focused on one task for over 24 hours, some funny things start to happen.  

Your brain stops focusing as easily, and you find that you’re sillier than you’d typically be.  

How do I know this?  I was recently asked to serve with the young women (ages 12-18) in our church congregation.  This weekend we’re reading The Book of Mormon (531 pages).  It’s been a challenge for us.  Not all of us have been present the whole time (raising my hand), but there have already been some apparent blessings from pushing to reach a goal that really takes some effort.  

*Unity.  Unity comes when you share an experience and get vulnerable with how you’re feeling.  I know I’ve seen girls sharing much more than meals and snacks as they have shared their time and energy reading toward this goal. 

*Peace. In a world that is chaotic and loud, I find that the moments when the girls have understood what they are reading, a peace has distilled on the entire group.  With about 30 of us, that’s significant.  

*Laughter.  We won’t forget the chapters read in accents, the chairs that have tipped over, the funny phrases and so much more.  There is a bond that is born is such silliness. It won’t be soon forgotten.

*Answers.  Immersing ourselves in a spirit filled environment has allowed specific verses stand out to me in ways that I know they are answers to my own questions and concerns.  I feel very, very grateful for those moments. 

Conversations.  Suffice it to say God puts the people we need in our lives.  Things people share or say, moments where tears have come to my eyes, these are the “things of the heart”.  I’m so grateful there are people who surround me that I can share those moments with.  

Any one of these things would be worth enduring for.  To have them all is far more than I anticipated.  Perhaps I can make it these last few hours. ;)