Two Things

I've said it before and it remains the same- Sundays are hard. I thought they were hard last year when I was leaving four kids in a bench alone while I left to nurse a baby. That's nothing! How had I forgotten what church was like (at 12:30) with a two year old?? Wow. This week Owen was really challenging. After fighting with him for almost an hour, I was close to tears and I wanted to go home. He was running away from me when I sat him back on my lap for one last try before I threw in the towel. Incredibly frustrating. I started whispering/singing in his ear (this usually makes him madder) and the craziest thing happened- he sat still and fell asleep. He has not fallen asleep at church, in sacrament meeting, on my lap for almost a year. This was a miracle. After sacrament meeting was over, I started going to my Sunday School class. I reached the door and stopped, deciding instead to see if the mother's room was empty. It was, which was another miracle. I sat down with my sweet baby, rocked him with my eyes closed and he slept in my arms for an hour. An entire hour. I cannot think of a more perfect gift. It was a piece of heaven and I hope I never forget it.

Yesterday was Kathryn's last cross county meet. She did great and ran her best race yet. Even when it was really tough this season, she never quit. Last week's meet was especially challenging for her. She started the race in 2nd place and had a confident look when she ran past me. Not too far into the race, half the girls didn't understand the course and ran the wrong way. When the group was told to turn around and run back, Kat was in last place (out of 21 runners). She was flustered and confused and not happy that she was in last place. She started to cry. When she finally ran past me, I could tell she was upset but wasn't sure why (she wasn't crying or in last place at this point). A friend from my ward came and told me what had happened. Kat was not only in last place when they turned around, she was last by a long shot. She was still running when my friend Lori saw her but she was very upset and crying. She wanted to quit. Lori stopped her, gave her a hug and told her to not quit. Then she told her to catch that girl in front of her! This sweet girl of mine is such an example to me. She ran her heart out and finished the race in eleventh place. Eleventh! When she finished, she slumped into my arms and broke down crying again. I was so proud of her determination to not quit even when she wanted to (oh how I can relate to this feeling). This season has stretched her in many ways and it has been incredible to watch her growth. I hope she never forgets how much she powered through when the race was hard. Life lessons right there.