Beautiful to Him

Getting five little girls ready for church on Sundays requires major effort. It's fun to dress them up and put bows in their hair. And on special occasions it's REALLY fun to get them all in coordinating outfits. It's one of the perks of being the mom of all girls. But a while ago I realized that my preparations for church felt more like preparations for a fashion show instead of a worship service. I changed my perspective when I attended McKenna's New Beginnings activity. The theme for the activity was "Beautiful to Him." And since then I've made that my new Sunday morning motto. We don't dress up for church to impress others or to feed our vanity (although that was exactly what I was doing.) We dress up for church as a sign of respect and reverence for our Savior and Heavenly Father. We want to be beautiful to Him. When I put my focus on that it's an entirely new experience on Sunday mornings. Mornings are still not drama-free (and I still try to put bows in my girls' hair), but I've been able to let go of the craziness. Focusing on the Savior removes a lot of the anxiety, pressure, and stress that I used to feel getting my girls ready for church. And I'm able to arrive at church more prepared to partake of the sacrament and to serve and worship the Lord.