A name from the past - with a photo to go along with it!

You have all probably heard me talk about my experience as a 14 year old babysitting for a recently widowed young mother of 8 children under 7 - because there was a set of twins. She moved into our ward from Idaho, where her husband had been killed in a farming accident.

It was difficult to babysit for her because there were so many children and the house was very chaotic, and so no one wanted to do it. My mother pretty much made me do it - and made me tell her she couldn't pay me because I needed service hours!! (She was taking classes to upgrade her nursing degree so that she could be a school nurse, so she needed babysitters two nights a week.)

I am so glad my mother made me have this experience. It taught me many things - chiefly that "when we are in the service of our fellow beings, we are only in the service of our God." But I also have used this experience over the years to remind myself that difficult service is often the most rewarding service of all. And I am grateful to have that understanding.

I came across this photo in a box of picture's at my mom's house - and I reflected on how sweet those children truly were. Their living situation was very difficult - but they were not. And there's a great lesson to be learned there.

Also, Sister Harris would visit with me when she got home - while we waited for my dad to pick me up - and she treated me not like a peer, but like what I had to say was really important to her. I came to feel valued by her, not just for babysitting, but for who I was. There's also a great lesson to be learned there.

Finally, looking at the photo took me back in time to a place where I might have acted very differently. And if I had acted very differently, maybe I would feel badly about that now. Another great lesson!