Unexpectedly Wonderous

A couple of years ago, the area that we live in had a few big changes in the boundaries of the church. As a result, we live in a brand new stake that has no stake center. We are sharing. Luckily we Mormons are good at that.

After quite a lot of effort, faith and prayers, some land was acquired to build a stake center. And a big meeting was planned to commemorate the ground breaking of the land for the Stake Center. The meeting was held last Saturday morning and we were asked to be there by 7:30am.

I was a little skeptical about how much I would enjoy this early morning church meeting with our crew of active kids.

When we arrived we saw an enormous pole in the center of the area with great strands of white rope secured to form a circle surrounding the pole.

It truly captured my attention.

Soon, the meeting was called to order and we heard a talk by a primary child and one from a young woman. Between the two, all the primary children of the stake were called up to sing "How Firm a Foundation". It was unexpectedly touching. And meaningful.

Next, the youth separated those strands of rope into dozens of long white lines that stretched to the perimeter of this enormous circle. Every member of the stake was asked to hold onto the lines while the Stake President spoke. It was unexpectedly powerful. He reminded us of the symbolism of the word stake and how we, as members of the stake, were literally representing the stakes of zion.

After his talk, while we were still holding the lines, several doves were released. I was near the area where the doves were waiting in their white boxes and I was able to watch them burst free from their confinement and soar up to the sky. It stirred my faith as I pondered the significance of the dove and the strength of faith surrounding this building site.

Yeah, it was worth getting up early for.