Before I tell you this story I have to set the stage. Last week I had a
HORRIBLE week! I have been juggling a lot of balls this semester and I knew eventually one would drop, but I was wrong. Three dropped. All in the same week. Allow me to explain:
As a member of the Stake primary presidency, our biggest responsibility is the monthly stake baptisms. It's not always possible for the entire presidency to attend every month so we make assignments and go from there. December was my assigned month to attend. Saturday came and I headed to work early as I had two new hire orientations to do. They went a little long and by the time I got home, Justin and Jamon had already left for the BSU game. Camdon was home alone with Carter who was running a fever. I quickly got things under control and settled down for a nice afternoon with my boys. Completely forgetting about the 4 o'clock baptisms I had been assigned to attend. I didn't even realize what I had done until Sunday morning. I woke up with a start as I realized I had completely dropped the ball.
Then on Tuesday as I sat down at the computer to take an online exam for World Geography, I was denied access. I couldn't figure out why it wasn't letting me on. Just the night before I had opened the exam, answered the few that I knew off the top of my head, and then bid the test adieu until Tuesday afternoon when I had the house to myself for a few hours to take the rest of it. As it turned out the test closed at 12 P.M. I looked at that probably five times throughout the week and every time I told myself I had until midnight Tuesday night. No people. 12 P.M. means noon, not midnight. That's why I couldn't get access to the test. It had closed and I scored a zero out of a hundred. I had the second highest grade in the class up until then. And of course, my "A" dropped down to a "C". I was absolutely devastated at what I had done. So strike two for me that week. Screwed up at church. Screwed up at school.
THEN ( I know the mind reels that there could be more!) I got to work Thursday night and was informed that the GM was disappointed in the way the training was going. The people weren't doing what they were supposed to, and as the CDT (glorified "know-it-all") this was my fault. So, I was screwing up at work as well. Apparently I'm super busy doing nothing at all. I was having a fairly large pity party. Until Saturday.
It snowed all day Saturday and the kids spent most of the day outside enjoying the winter weather. All summer long the boys spent hours building a BMX track in the empty lot across the street. As you can imagine, all the snow was making for a great sledding track. That's where they spent their day. At one point Jamon hollered to the neighbor kid to toss him down a sled. The kid threw it and the sled hit Jamon right in the face between his nose and mouth. I happened to be outside in our garage and heard the scream. I was already on my way when I heard Jamon yell: "Go get mom!" I was to him in seconds.
I walked him home, got him out of his bloody clothes, and went about the business of tending to his needs. As he was lying in bed with tears in his eyes he said "Thanks mom. I love you."
At that moment I realized something. He didn't yell "Go get Dad!" He didn't yell "Go get Tammi!" (our neighbor who lives next door. She's a nurse.) He didn't yell "Go get J.D.!" (our other neighbor who is a dentist and was outside and saw the whole thing.) No. He yelled "Go get mom!" And I was there. Within seconds.
It was then that I realized that no matter where else I screwed up this week, where it mattered the most, I DIDN'T drop the ball. I play a lot of roles, but the role of "mom" is the one I'm most proud of. I don't think it was a coincidence that I happened to be outside when Jamon got hit. I think Heavenly Father knew I needed to be reminded of the good work I was doing. The really important work of being a mom.
