Sunday, August 26, 2012

As Sisters In Zion

In many of the groups I follow and participate in, relief society is often criticized for various, legitimate reasons.  Rather than reflecting on the experiences that I’ve had that were negative and un-empowering, I am thinking of one experience that still warms my heart: a time when ladies of my congregation banded together and truly dedicated their Christ-like love and service to me when I was in need.

I was serving as Relief Society secretary at the time of my third miscarriage.  I called the president – a lady who I still admire – and let her know that I would not be attending church for a week or so and might not be able to attend meetings because I was miscarrying. She agreed that was best and I thought that was that.

Within a few hours of that phone call, she and the other presidency members were at my doorstep, cleaning supplies in hand, ready to serve in the best way they could.  They cleaned my apartment, folded my laundry, washed and dried the dishes, and offered many hugs and tears on my behalf.

The rest of the week, other sisters of the ward, including my beloved visiting teachers and my visiting teaching companion, brought meals to our family.  They hugged me close, dried my tears, and listened as I expressed my disappointment and pain over the loss of another baby.

These women epitomized the original words of the hymn, As Sisters in Zion:
As sisters in Zion, we’ll all pull together,

The blessings of God on our labors we’ll seek:

We’ll build up His kingdom with earnest endeavor;

We’ll comfort the weary, and strengthen the weak.

I hope I will always provide the same relief to women in need throughout my lifetime.

4 comments:

  1. Beautiful story. This is one area where the Relief Society tends to get it right. When my husband had surgery last December (and almost died during the procedure) I felt so taken care of by my ward members and especially my Relief Society sisters. Families, who weren't assigned by the compassionate service leader, brought us meals, checked in on us, and made my burden lighter as he was on crutches for 6 weeks after. Thank for for this story...it was a great way to start my Sabbath morning.

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  2. I really learned how to serve others in that ward- and how to accept service. Thanks for sharing.

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  3. What a wonderful story! One dear friend brought me a package when I miscarried and I've been paying that forward ever since. Kindness raises us all up.

    Today, I was at target with a full cart, a seven year old and a sleeping baby in arms. A stranger offered to unload my cart at checkout, then loaded the bags back into the cart and asked that if I wait a moment, she'd help me load up my car too. Today, those two helping hands meant the world to me.

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  4. I truly don't know anything about this society but I do know what it's like to help others. Every year I sign up for my kids' schools "helping hands" programs and offer up meals or other help as needed. I'm so glad that you had that help.

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