Morning Surprise

This month's speaking assignment was in the Waco 1st Ward, which meets at 9 am. I had left this morning before the girls got up, so I didn't expect to see them at least until noon. While sitting up on the stand, Lindsey walks in with Ava and Syndee along beside her and they sit on the third row on the side of the chapel so we could see each other perfectly. A couple of things happened to me in that moment. First, I felt joy at seeing them and was happy to have them there (although I worried the girls would escape from Lindsey since it was just the 3 of them on the bench, and they have a knack for bolting in opposite directions simultaneously). The second thing I felt was a calming feeling. Even after speaking every month for over a year, I would still get apprehensive about standing at the pulpit. All the nervousness went away after seeing them. Thanks, Lindsey!

Now for the best part. As soon as I stood up, both girls ran from the bench and up to the pulpit. Sydnee even climbed into the 1st counselor's lap! Since not very many people there knew us, I had to say something about my wonderful family coming to surprise and support me during my talk so that no one would think these were just random kids running amock. Sometime after finally getting them to go sit back down, Ava made another visit. She may have done a little dance for everyone, then someone up on the stand invited her to sit in my seat, but she quickly lost interest in that and went back to sit with Lindsey.

People there may not remember anything from my prepared talk, but they'll remember my girls and that family is what counts.