Eleanor won church on Sunday

I was called as the primary chorister shortly after moving to Provo last summer. Primary has THE BEST callings in the church (except maybe camp callings). The cuteness factor is off the charts every week.

Anyway, this Sunday it was time for a 6 year old, Eleanor, to give the talk at the beginning of primary. She climbed up the stairs to the mic- tiny, but mighty- and stood in front of the pulpit. 20 seconds and no talk. Then a minute of silence passed. Her Dad was sitting behind her gently coaxing her to get started and saying, "you can do it." She started shying away and saying, "I'm afraid." Another 30 seconds passed. Her mom, the newly called primary secretary, came up from the back of the room and started coaxing her as well. There was Eleanor shying away from the pulpit with her parents behind her whispering words of encouragement into her ear. For an awkward 3 minutes things were quiet. The primary kids laughed a bit at first, but then were silent. This is not common. Usually there are lots of giggles and grunts and conversations going on. We could all feel Eleanor was in distress. Her parents kept coaxing her. I thought to myself maybe one of them should just give the talk with her standing next to them, it was getting really uncomfortable. I was afraid Eleanor would be traumatized from the event. I feared I was witnessing the moment a phobia of public speaking began for this young lady.

 

I was wrong. Her parents knew her better than I did. Eleanor finally began speaking. At first she whispered, but soon her words were more confident, and we could understand what she was saying. She testified of David and how he was 'small, but mighty' with the Lord's help. She used the word mighty a lot in her talk. Every time she said mighty, she flexed her little arm muscles. It was clear she had practiced this talk over and over at home. She was prepared and capable, ready to testify of the gospel. I realized I was witnessing a representation of how our Heavenly Parents feel. They coax us and encourage us from the background. They know how hard we've worked and prepared to face our challenges. They want us to succeed. They know we can succeed. They put their spiritual hands on our back to assure us they are there. When we figuratively shrink back, they stop us, sustain us, steady us, and tell us, "You can do this."

 

At the end of Eleanor's talk, she was beaming.  It was clear she was so proud that she had accomplished a tough task. The primary was silent. The spirit was so strong. The little 3-7 year olds might not have understood exactly what Eleanor had testified of; but they saw it represented in the scene they had witnessed as Eleanor was backed up and assured by her parents. The Holy Ghost enveloped the room and our hearts with a feeling of warmth and love.

 

It was one of the best church days and real-life lessons I've witnessed in a while. I'm so grateful for what I saw. I remembered the scripture I had read during the week about David's faith, but the meaning was deeper as I likened it to Eleanor, her parents, and our loving Heavenly Father: "David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, "Go, and the Lord be with thee."