Sunday Talk

Last sunday I had the opportunity to give a talk in church.  It was the first time I've been able to give a talk as an 'adult'.  Until now I was always just another one of the youth speakers OR the one that Bishop Schallenberger called on at the last minute.  :)  In contrast to having only a few seconds, this time I was given a whole month and a half to prepare.  At first I was grateful to have such a long time but in the end I think it stressed me out way more.  It was constantly in the back of my mind and I couldn't stop thinking about it... for 45 days!  I would sit down and start writing, be almost finished and then have new ideas and have to start all over again.  I thought and prayed and thought and prayed some more because I wanted to give a good talk that people could relate to, rather than a boring traditional talk that everyone has heard a million times.  But at the end of the 45 days I was confident that I had a pretty good talk prepared and was actually really excited to give it.  I had a feeling that everything I had prepared was exactly what I needed to say.   After it was finally finished I was quite proud of myself.  Instead of fidgeting and talking really really fast like I usually do, I was calm and spoke in a clear, normal voice.   They might have actually mistaken me for someone who is good at public speaking.  In fact...they did.   I had many people give me compliments but only one seemed to matter and it really stuck out to me.  One lady came up to me at the end of the day and gave me a hug and sincerely thanked me.  She just kept saying that she'd been feeling my spirit all week and couldn't wait to get to church.  She told me that everything I had said was exactly what she needed to hear and asked me to always share my gift (what that is I'm not exactly clear on yet), and that I was a blessing to have here.  It was really neat because that day I saw that the Lord really does work through each of us so long as we allow him in our lives, and if nothing else, that one comment made this whole adventure totally worth it just to know that the Lord was able to work through me to help someone else, even when I didn't realize it right away.  

-And I must say to my wonderful friend Doug, aka Bishop Schallenberger, that I kinda miss being called on unexpectedly.   Actually...I just miss you...and the beautiful Lori of course!  :)