Reverence is, At the Very Least, Quietly Sitting

We have eleven o'clock church. This is not the best time for small children or a diabetic husband, because something occurs between the hours of eleven and two. That something is lunch. Usually we manage by having a snack before we leave the house, but today we were running late. Instead I passed out fruit snacks to eat in the car on the way to church.

This tided everyone over until somewhere in the middle of the sacrament, when Chris said his blood sugar was low. I was sure I had sugar in the van, so I ran out and found half a tube of liquid glucose that was no longer liquid. Not exactly an overflowing supply. So I ran back in, handed the tube to Chris to crunch on, and then got up to find my friend in the ward who also has a diabetic husband to beg sugar off her. When I got back to my family, McKay was having a meltdown because she was "so, so, so thirsty." Feeling that I should stay with Chris to make sure he lived through sacrament meeting, I sent Parker out with McKay. They were back in a few minutes with McKay still in meltdown mode, because Parker wasn't tall enough to lift her up. So back up I popped to take McKay out, with Deacon following at my heels. Drinks done, I sent McKay back in and stayed out in the hall with Deacon who was now having his very own meltdown. While I tried to calm Deacon, who should come walking out of the doors of the chapel, but Parker. "What are you doing?" I exclaimed. Parker shrugged. "I had to go to the bathroom."

Finally, Chris, Parker, and McKay are all sitting in Sacrament meeting, Deacon is running back and forth in the breezeway, and I have a chance to listen to the talks. The bishopric is having a special sacrament meeting about reverence. The first counselor has just stated that parents should teach their children that there is no reason they need to leave the chapel during sacrament meeting, when who should pop through the chapel doors, but my oldest son. "What now?!?"

"McKay stepped on a fruit snack, and there is fruit snack goo spread all over the floor. Dad sent me out for a wet paper towel."

So if you were counting--times we should leave sacrament meeting: zero; times Davis members got out of their seats: six. At this point it's now the Bishop's turn, and he is talking about attending a friend's ward last Sunday. He said the mom in front of him passed out Lunchables and Capri Suns to her children. Of course, I thought, this is the answer to the Davis family's need for reverence. If I bring Lunchables and Capri Suns next week, everyone will have food, a drink, and be happily contained for a good twenty, thirty minutes. This is the way to go! Then the Bishop burst my bubble by stating, "I think Cheerios are one thing. But meat product--that's going too far."

Dang. I wonder if they make vegetarian Lunchables...