A Song to Sing

Last fall while listening to General Conference, I had an interesting spiritual prompting. I don't remember if the subject of the talk was on music or not, but I found myself thinking about how I really needed to be singing the hymns more often around the house. I remember my mother singing as she did house work and I'd been thinking for awhile that I wanted to be like that. But if I ever did remember while I was working that I wanted to be singing then I couldn't think of a song to sing. I know zillions of songs but when I would think "Oh, I should sing a song while I'm folding laundry!" nothing would come to mind. So, the prompting I got was this: Go through the hymn book and make some short lists of hymns you want the kids to hear you singing and post the lists near the places you do your household chores. That way you'll remember to sing and you'll know what to sing.

That was in October. Life was going like a mudslide, sucking me along in a torrent of squelchy goo-filled days, accelerating as the Holidays approached. Now, I like mud and all, but come January I decided that I was going to harmonize my debris flow and tell it where to go instead of letting it push me along. So I made a long list of things that needed to be straightened up, closets that needed to be de-booby-trapped, and organizational items that I had been putting off for months. Like the hymn lists.

I'm happy to report that I have made astounding progress on my organization list. The linen closet no longer says "Rarrr!" and throws washcloths in your face when you open it. I deleted 37 pictures of the inside of my pocket from my camera phone. I now actually have a current driver's license in the state that I've lived in for the past year. There is no more ring of pink mildew on the lid of my Brita pitcher. And next to my sink, my washing machine, and my cleaning bucket are little lists of hymns.

It works! I sing while I wash dishes. I sing while I fold clothes. I sing while I scrub toilets. And I catch the boys humming along. It's great. It even makes the chores go faster. And it definitely makes me feel like I'm doing something right.