2017
Finding Peace in the Sacrament
February 2017


“Finding Peace in the Sacrament,” Liahona, February 2017

Finding Peace in the Sacrament

Image
Mother and children taking the sacrament

Illustration by Allen Garns

As a young mother I struggled to find moments of peace during the hectic days when life revolved around caring for five active and demanding children. Five minutes here and 10 minutes there were all I managed to carve out, but I cherished each small slice of quiet.

Frequently I turned to my Heavenly Father in prayer, asking for strength, patience, and peace. Sundays were especially frantic with nursing a baby, dressing a toddler, and supervising the older children in getting ready for church. Ironically, it was on a busy Sunday that I found my solution.

As I listened to the sacrament prayers that day, the words took on special significance: “… that they may always have his Spirit to be with them” (D&C 20:77).

I was entitled to have the Lord’s Spirit to be with me. How had I never before realized the significance of that promise?

The sacrament became the quiet, contemplative moment in my otherwise noisy life. In the ordinance of the sacrament, I found the peace I had sought.

Though I might have left sacrament meeting with a squirming toddler after partaking of the bread and water, I made sure I was there for that special time of remembrance. I looked forward to those precious moments with a fervency I had never experienced before.

Now that my children are grown, I enjoy the luxury of many more quiet moments. Nevertheless, I still cherish those moments spent taking the sacrament.