We Are So Grateful When We Hear A Baby Crying At Church

I was able to attend our Stake Auxilary Training Meeting on Thursday. The Stake Relief Society presidency was leading a discussion about some of the problems and questions we had in our individual ward relief societies. One of the questions we discussed had to do with reverence during the Sunday lesson, and what to do if babies are being loud or distracting during the lesson--and the mother of the child won’t take them out. One lady in the room sat still and listened while we discussed “proper” ways to deal with the problem. She is the Relief Society President of the Fallsbrook Branch, a small branch made up of humble members living in the trailer court near our home. She finally raised her hand and said quietly, “We are so grateful when we hear a baby crying in Relief Society, because it means that the mother is there. It means that she is at church where she needs to be. And it means that that sweet baby, a child of the rising generation, is there, too, where he can learn about who he really is.”

I like that. Sometimes we nit-pick at the small problems and judge too quickly instead of seeing the big picture.