Uphill in the Rain

 So, Sunday mornings...

We have a love/hate relationship.

Church starts at 9am

I start at 8am

Not early enough to get me and three kids ready.

My mother-in-law comes to help me since Marc is gone in the morning to meetings.

There was a power outage on Saturday night and apparently I set me kitchen clocks wrong so when I thought my mother-in-law had a arrived early at 8am, it was actually 8:30am.

I, of course, try to act as if "I knew that" and "I can handle this" and "I meant to get all four of us ready in 25 minutes." I'm sure she saw right through me...

To top it all off Sister was really having a rough time of getting ready and getting to church. I think part of it may have been the fact that grandma had been gone for over a month and we were getting ready in the mornings on our own and I had forgotten to "prep" Sister to let her know that grandma Lynne would be coming in the morning to help... therefore, the transition nightmare.

So I quickly showered while Lynne was here with the kids and I threw my hair in a sopping wet bun and skipped the make-up because I can do that now with my fake/amazing eyelashes. (A little moisturizer and some lip gloss and I am good to go.)

Even with all the help Lynne was giving Sister was still falling apart at the seams.

I told Lynne to go ahead and take Brother with her to church and then I would bring the girls when I could get Sister to calm down.

Have I mentioned that I am the Primary Chorister? Well, I am. And with that responsibility comes a heavy load... no literally a heavy load. You wouldn't believe how heavy the bag is that I carry around—music book, binder of song prompt/pictures, toys for the nursery songs, and books and crayons for my kids during Sacrament Meeting.

Anyway, I am lugging The Bag and Baby and trying to hurry in my fantastically-grown-up-woman-heels and I am searching with my free hand... free hand? I must be an octopus... anyway, I was searching for my keys in the bag.

I can't find them.

It dawns on me that they are in the trunk of the car that Marc has already taken to church...

"Why were they there?" you ask.

We had been on a family outing the day before and when we were packing up I just threw everything in the trunk... anyway...

So, church starts at 9am and it is now 9:30am.

I decide to just take the stroller and walk, I may, at least, catch the last speaker. It's not far at all, about 4 blocks. I should be walking anyway.

Sister is getting a little upset (because remember she doesn't do well with transitions and she was under the impression we were going to church in the suburban) Remember when she used to call it a persimmon?

Anyway, the sky is just a little over cast and doesn't look too hot or too cold out so to calm Sister down I tell her that we should be fine as long as it doesn't rain...

Before we even stepped foot out of the garage, here it came.

Rain.

"It's OK," I thought, my morning has been crappy anyway so why not add to it. My hair was wet anyway, right?

So the whole way to church I am mumbling in my head (can you mumble in your head?) about how my life is so hard and why can't anything go right.

As I am thinking this I am pushing harder and angrier.

WHAM!

I about gave Sister whiplash going over that bump in the sidewalk so I calm myself back down and start watching for more sidewalk hazards.

Then the rain starts to really pour.

I don't want to go to church like a wet cat so I think, "I should run." I was only a block away anyway...

RUN

I did.

I got to church.

I walked/ran in late.

Sister was being quite good considering.

Then I start to sweat.

Profusely.

I reach into my heavy chorister bag and find some song props that will work great as a fan.

It was a cool day.

I am sure people were wondering why I needed a fan...

Anyway, I just kept stewing over my crappy morning and how it just got crappier in the rain. Oh, and did I mention it was uphill? (OK, so it was a slight incline, but, think about the bag and two kids in a stroller. The bag alone must weigh at least 30 pounds.)

After church Sister and Brother and Baby all wanted to go home in the stroller. I figured, what the heck, my day can't get any worse, it is all down hill from here.... literally, it was down hill so it made it a little easier.

I got thinking on the way home that life is like going in uphill in the rain sometimes.

It can be drudgery and misery if we continue to whine about it.

Or we can lift our face up, raise our hands and thank our Heavenly Father for the opportunity to feel the rain and experience the moments, because if we keep our head down in despair, we are bound to hit a few major bumps along the way instead of looking ahead to what we are learning on the journey.

So, I think that today I am going to try harder to enjoy the rain.

It will make the sunshine all that much brighter.

Oh, and learn to laugh at yourself... it helps bring the sunshine when there isn't any. (smile)