Service With a Smile

     This is one of those experiences that is a little more tender and hard for me to publicly share.  But I don't want Natalee to forget it or the way she felt at the time.
     Natalee and Kelsey came with me to pick up some things at Walmart on Saturday evening.  All in all it was a pretty normal shopping trip.  In other words, we took much longer than we planned because we looked at things that weren't on our list. :)  But we got some cute Halloween fabric because we are planning to make some trick-or-treating bags this year.  Natalee thought they were too young for her but Daren and I both said that if she was too old for the fabric we picked then she was probably too old to be trick-or-treating. :)  She hasn't said anymore about it but I think she'll be happy to use one.
     We got in line to check out and a sweet older lady got in line behind us.  She was riding in one of those motorized carts with the basket up front.  They are great for getting shoppers around the store, but when it comes time to check out, it's hard for them to reach their basket to put their things on the belt without getting out of the seat.  I asked if my daughter and I could unload her cart for her and she very gratefully allowed us too.  I only unloaded a few things before they started ringing up our stuff so I moved over to the register to start checking out and Natalee kept helping the lady behind us.  After I paid, I noticed Natalee was saying, "no, no, that's okay" so I looked over and saw that the lady was trying to give her some money as a thank you.  She asked me if it would be okay and I said that it really wasn't necessary and I liked that she gave my daughter the opportunity to do some service.  She told me what sweet girls I have and said what a good job we are doing raising them.
     Natalee was just beaming with joy from the good feelings of service and I was beaming with joy over the wonderful young woman she is growing into.  One of Natalee's gifts is that it is easier for her to share her tender feelings with others. That is definitely not something that is easy for me!  When we got out to the car, she started telling me how she felt.  She said she almost felt like crying but laughing at the same time.  I knew exactly what she meant.  It gave me the perfect opportunity to help her to recognize what the Holy Ghost feels like.  I knew that was what she was feeling because I was feeling it too.  I was able to testify to her that when we do something righteous, that Heavenly Father is pleased and the Holy Ghost testifies to us that we did the right thing.  It's an amazing feeling and I hope she remembers it and never forgets how good it feels to choose the right.  Natalee just started middle school this year and I know that she is going to face plenty of temptations in the coming years and experiences like these are so precious to strengthening her testimony so that she will have the courage to make the right choices in the face of those temptations.
     I am also sincerely grateful to that sweet old lady for allowing Natalee to serve her.  I have had experiences in the past when I have asked someone if I could help and they have said no thank you.  I am sure they just want to be independent.  But I know Natalee could not have felt the way she did if this woman had decided to be independent at that moment.