Not sure we are ready for this.

Sunday, April 13, 2008 is a day that will live in infamy. I was sitting in the Relief Society room waiting during the break between Sunday School and Relief Society as sisters were filing in. As I was sitting there minding my own business, the secretary for Primary came up to me and handed me a bright, as in neon, piece of paper that had the date of May 18, 2008 and listed Lauren as saying the scripture during primary and Mark was on deck for the prayer. Now as I looked at this piece of paper I thought to myself “Is she crazy? Has she not seen Mark in Primary? He can’t control himself when he does not have a public forum in Primary, do you know what he will do if he gets to go up to the microphone and speak? More importantly do you know what kind of family secrets he might spill during a prayer? Can the Ward handle knowing we don’t’ read our scriptures like we should, family home evening is sporadic, and mommy can yell really loud. What if he repeats something he has heard Grandpa or Daddy say? Could we be excommunicated based upon what he says in his prayer?” I looked at the secretary and said “Are you serious about Mark praying?” She responded “Yes they have to start sometime.” Well I agree they have to start sometime, but could we wait until he can self edit?

I decided that I had better prepare Mark in advance for this blessed event. I told Mark that he was going to get to say the prayer in Primary. He asked “Into the microphone?” I said “Yes in the microphone.” He squealed with delight, and asked if he could pray for Thomas the Tank Engine. I said that perhaps in Primary we could pray to be reverent. He asked if we could pray to be picked up after primary was over and taken home. I said that would be ok.

As Sunday came Mark was excited and I was terrified. He agreed to let me help him say the prayer, so at least I could mitigate the damage. He sat upfront with Lauren looking quite beyond his four years of age. When it was his turn he stepped up to the microphone and utter his prayer, very clearly and distinctly, following my direction. Nothing inappropriate came out of his mouth, our family secrets were all safe, and he acted like he was mature enough to be in Primary. He was giddy when he was done that he had participated in Primary, and I was a proud mother.