Patience is a virtue

I was putting Carter to bed on Thursday night when my phone rang. It was the plain old ring tone that I've designated for callers who are not in my phone book. When the caller identified himself as a member of the bishopric, it didn't occur to me at first that I was getting the dreaded phone call. I was actually caught off guard a little when he asked me to speak in Sacrament meeting. I haven't been asked to give a talk since I was a teenager. I asked him what the topic would be, and he told me that I could choose a topic. That scared me to death, so he started listing topics. When he said "patience," I knew it was meant to be. For the past few weeks, I have really been focusing my efforts on being a more patient, kind mom. I am far from mastering it, but I feel like it helps just to keep it in mind as I go about my day. Well, believe me, it's hard to yell at your kids when you're preparing a talk about patience! I wrote my talk on Friday while the kids napped, so I had the rest of the day and Saturday to go over it, out loud, and in my mind. I made changes here and there, and felt pretty prepared when I woke up yesterday. I wish that would help me to not feel nervous, but I have a real problem with performance anxiety! By the time it was my turn to get up, I thought I would fall down just getting from my seat to the podium because I was shaking so badly! It went ok, besides the fact that I spent far too much time with my head down - every time I looked up I was afraid I'd lose my place.

Anyway, I'm glad that I said yes and challenged myself to speak in public on a topic that I really need help with myself. It really is a growing experience, isn't it? Thanks so much to my sweet husband for being there to support me, and to my sister and my good friend Becky, who drove all the way to my neighborhood just to show me they care.