More than Mortal

I sang for a funeral tonight. I've done this often and I am always happy to offer this service because my faith in Heavenly Father's plan gives me peace and hope regarding life after death. Tonight I sang for the family and friends of a lovely 90 year old lady named Concepción Peña. 

I was barely acquainted with her, to be honest. To be more honest, I was happy to sing but increasingly frustrated as the week went on because there were no clear lines of communication and I was getting frequent texts from three different people to get information on the song title, accompanist, etc. These texts and calls, on top of my work load and during an emotionally draining week, really pushed a lot of buttons. 

And then I went to the funeral. I heard her daughters share their memories, stories, and love for their mother. I learned more about her life and felt the great love she had for her family and they for her. 

I sang "I Am a Child of God" and, a couple hours before the funeral, talked a friend into singing with me so we could get some harmony and make it more interesting. We decided that on the second verse I would sing alone, in Spanish. After listening to everyone's words I changed the lyrics a tiny bit:

Soy una hija de Dios, 

El me envió aquí. 

Me ha dado un hogar 

Y Familia buena para mi. 

Guíenme, enseñame la senda a seguir,

Para que algun día yo

Con él pueda vivir. 

(I am a daughter of God,

He has sent me here. 

He has given me a home 

And a great family. 

Guide me, show me the way to go,

So that one day I can live with him.)

I was trying to say what Concepción would have said if she were still with us. As I sang I could feel her family's love, her love, and I felt like I briefly touched our Heavenly Father's and our Savior's love for each of us. 

When I said it's been an emotionally draining week that's a major understatement. I won't go into details, but I will say that I am so grateful I was able to sing at Sister Peña's funeral. It was a huge blessing to me, right when I really, really needed it.

 

We are more than mortal. We are children of a Heavenly Father who loves us, knows us, and is very aware of our needs. I'm grateful to have felt His love today, and I hope you feel it in your day, too. 

Sweet Surprise

Apparently there was a lot of audience participation today in Sharing Time. I was told the kids were called up and asked to share their name and what they like. (You know: "My name is Ben and I like to play video games.") The primary pianist found me after church to tell me about Farren's comments.  I was a tad nervous to hear her report, because Ren typically acts silly and uses little boy (i.e. bathroom) humor to be funny when he's in front of people, but according to my friend, he said "My name is Farren and I like to give my mommy hugs and kisses."

I think this mommy's heart just grew three sizes bigger!