MINI CLASSES AND BARNACLES

Earlier today I went to a mini-class. Because of the snow there were only three of us but it was a great opportunity to sit with two lovely women and talk for two hours. Tomorrow is the book club, which I will have to miss because Gilmore Girl is coming in--from Outer Mongolia--to shop for Curley Sue's birthday presents and I will meet her at Target. I hate to miss a mini-class. Phil said I would go to a class on cow birthing and I said I most certainly would not. He said yes I would because there might be friends there and so I would go.

The mini classes are relatively new women's programs in our church. In "the olden days," we had Enrichment once a month. It is really called "Home, Family and Personal Enrichment," but that's such a mouthful. I was the Enrichment Leader for two and a half years and it was a big job. Once a month we had a dinner and a program or activity. Then the church said to only hold Enrichment meetings four times a year but to hold mini-classes on the other months.

This program truly was inspired. I see new friendships being formed, good, deep, lasting ones that would not have been possible before.

My favorite mini class is the personal history one. I thought I was writing my story for my children but I found out that I am not writing for my children I am writing for me--to understand who I am. I have found out things about myself that I didn't know. For instance, I have a deeper faith in the Savior than I realized. I have a deeper faith in me, too. I like who I am even if I am getting older, am not at the weight I should be, I'm not as smart as I should be, or as disciplined as I should be, or as funny, or as pretty, or as fit, courageous, tolerant and sometimes I don't seem to even be as mentally stable as a horse fly. I wonder why I like myself, with all these flaws, hanging onto me like barnacles on a boat bottom.

What are barnacles anyway? A truly intelligent person not only knows exactly what barnacles are but probably has some nifty ideas for using barnacle carcasses that have been scraped off boat bottoms. I'll bet you, whoever you are, have an idea for using barnacle scrapings that would boost the economy and advance world peace. I hope you like yourself as much as I like myself because someone like you, with a great barnacle idea, and all your other nifty qualities, certainly should. And even if none of us had nifty qualities we should still like ourselves. It's an insult to our Father in Heaven if we don't.

So let's do it--really like ourselves, really love ourselves--and learn about barnacles and boost the economy and advance world peace. What do you say?