And...more humility

To say I'm looking forward to 2 hour church come January is an understatement.  Don't get me wrong, I love going to church and worshipping my Savior, and partaking of the Sacrament each week so I can start fresh yet again.  I have for 40 years... except when I was around 5 years old and requested that going fishing was a much better activity than being all cooped up in the chapel ;)

This past Sunday was another winner in my book.  There is always so much to do and so much to remember as we are trying to get out of the door on Sunday mornings.  Pack my Sunday lesson stuff for Young Women's and the snacks to go along with it;  grab the church bag and makes sure there are FRESH snacks (not months old ones) and a sippy cup for Mack; diapers and wipes; this past Sunday, I had to remember to bring items for the missionaries serving around the world from our ward, because we would be sending off packages to them for Christmas; make sure the boys are prepared for what they have going on in Primary; make sure the boys have their church shoes on and not their tennis shoes;  find belts; help gel hair; check if teeth are brushed;  ooh!  and run back in to get the Christmas cards for the Young Women to sign for those missionary packages....etc....etc... 

you get the picture.  

We also have to leave early because Joe has to sit up on the stand.  AND, our chapel doesn't have any parking, so we have to find parking on the street, or park in the hospital garage and walk a good ways to get to church.  Not that big of a deal, but when you have 40 bags and you've decided to wear high heels that day, it's a bit of a drag.  Especially when it's raining.  

Anyway, I was feeling pretty good about Sunday.  I had most everything put together the night before and just had to grab a few things the morning of.  We piled into the car and drove close to the chapel, to find zero parking spaces.  "Go ahead and go in, Joe," I said, as everyone poured out of the car.  I knew he had to be there early, so I said I would drive around and find a space.  I casually did so.  Found a spot, walked in and started saying hello to people.  I put all of our things in the pew that we would sit in and then went back to put some of the items I had brought in the missionary boxes.  I went and got translation headsets for us so we could understand what was being said, and finally, sat down.  Making sure that all of the kids were settled and ready to be quiet.  

Just as I saw the bishop get up to welcome everyone to church, I realized with terror that there hadn't been any prelude music.  It was quiet.  My eyes got big and my mouth fell open.  The bishop began to welcome everyone and I looked at him and mouthed, "Am I supposed to be playing the organ today?!!!!"  He gave me a quick nod and I dropped Mack's toys (so thankful Kate took over Mack duty without even a hiccup) and I bolted up to the organ bench.  

It's a new organ.  Remember, I don't really play the organ?  So I had all of these instructions in my own hymnal on how to turn the organ on and what buttons to push to make sure it sounds right for prelude music and for the Sacrament hymns.  At this point, I was panicked and couldn't even remember how to turn the instrument on, because all I could think of was, "I don't have my book!  I didn't practice!  I have no idea what songs we are singing!"  Oh ya.  I can sight read pretty well, but not when I open up to the first hymn and look at the title and it's in German.  My friend, Blanche, was up near the organ, and thank goodness she came over and turned in on and pushed the right buttons for me.  What a lifesaver.  

The opening hymn was... I hadn't a clue.  Couldn't read the title.  So, I blindly began to sight read.  Butchered the timing of the first stanza all 3 times we sang it.  Then for the Sacrament hymn, I had calmed down and began to play, only to hear the conductor turn to me and say, "Wrong song!  It's on the next page."  Yep.  Thankfully there was a musical number in between the talks and then I nailed the final hymn.  "Families Can Be Together Forever."  Phew!  An easy one.

It was awesome.  The Berryhill Circus continues.  Joe had just returned from Tokyo the day before and didn't look at the schedule-- all he knew was that he didn't need to conduct the meeting.  I got my days mixed up and didn't even check. 

But the good news is, that with each "winner," my embarrassment becomes less and less. I didn't even sweat this time or get itchy armpits! "That was rough," was all I could say, and I genuinely felt it, but didn't beat myself up. Yay for me being nice to me.   At least Mack wasn't running up the aisle to the stand (to Joe) this time with 2 forks in his hands that he had found in the kitchen, after escaping our grasp.  That was one that I wish to never repeat.  Here's to being more organized sometime in my future...