Grateful Sunday

Today it was very easy to know what I wanted to write about. We received a small miracle today.
Let me start by saying that church has been hard for me lately. It's not that I don't want to go or that my feelings of the church have changed- they haven't at all. It's just that most Sundays I have a really hard time being motivated and excited to go. This is why: It falls right at Abi's naptime which equals a very grumpy kid. Every sacrament meeting we end up fighting Abi the ENTIRE time. The crazy thing about this is that while Abi is a high energy little girl she is also a really good little girl. I very rarely have any problems with her in public. So anyway, we have to pack a church bag full of books, coloring items, toys, and snacks and this still doesn't help. It has got worst lately. So, the point of this is that I never get anything out of Sacrament meeting because I can never pay attention to what is going on.
Then as soon as that meeting is over, I go into Nursery for the next two hours. I love kids- well, I will be perfectly honest and say I love most kids- but sometimes when your life is full of spending every day with a two year old and teaching preschool for your side business it is hard to have your calling in church be with kids as well. So, basically I go to church every week with a tired child and have so much added stress that 3 hours that I don't need and don't get anything out of it. This is my usual experience.
That said, you should get a feel for what I was gearing up for this afternoon as we drove the 20 minutes to the church building. This is where the miracle comes in:
We sat in our seats. I held Abi for a minute while we sang a song and then she wanted to be in her own seat. I hand her a lemon tootsie roll. She eats it. She asks for more. Instead I give her a Lift the Flap Book of Mormon Stories book. She then gets down on the floor putting her book *quietly* back on her chair and spends the next few minutes looking through that book. When she is done with it, she notices Daddy highlighting a conference talk he is looking at and she walks over to him and asks to use it. She draws with the highlighter for a few minutes. I then give her a color wonder book and she sits back next to me and colors. I then give her the I can Be Reverant book and she spends a while looking at it. Then she plays with her little church doll (an old fashioned cloth and lace thing with no face) I then give her the last tootsie roll. She eats it. She asks for more. Instead I give her a Hello Kitty notebook and pen and she draws until the final song begins. She stands up on her chair and says "He has a baton like Leo!" (a Little Einsteins reference) and then sits on my lap for the rest of the song.
There it is. That was like a little miracle- really a huge blessing that reminded me of why I still go even though I find it difficult right now. I felt like Heavenly Father was helping me by giving me one hour where I actually got to listen to some really touching talks. I GOT something out of church today and it was something I needed.
I am so grateful.
*We won't dwell on the 'walk' we went on in nursery where Abi took off and fell off the curb and scraped up her leg real bad*