Yesterday was Sunday and I had the rare and kind of wonderful opportunity of going to church with just my oldest daughter.  I had two coughing kids at home and if my husband was already home with sick kids – you better believe I was leaving the baby too! 

As we walked into the chapel, my daughter pointed out that it was like we were on a date.  We sat down in a pew together and reverently listened. 

No one was jumping on my lap. 

No one was asking me for a snack.

No one was fighting with their sister . . . there was no one to fight with. 

As I sat quietly and undistracted during the sacrament, I had the privilege of opening the hymn book to silently read the words we had just sung.  As I turned to hymn 179, the first word of the song title catapulted off the page . . .

“Again”

“Again, our dear redeeming Lord, We meet in thy beloved name”

I read and re read the first line of the song.  I am sure I have sung it a dozen times before, but as I sat there truly pondering, my mind was consumed with a simple impression – “life is about doing things again and again!”

As a mother of four little kids – my life is full of repetition. 

I change diapers again and again.

I drive children to school again and again.

I make dinner again and again. 

I carefully apply band aids to invisible wounds, pick up Barbie shoes that I have just painfully stepped on and don’t even get me started on the laundry – I do it over and over again! 

The thing is, no matter what your occupation or role in life – I guarantee that there are things that you do repeatedly day after day, year after year, your entire life through.  Our mere human existence requires it!

We pay taxes again and again.

We buy groceries again and again.

We eat, sleep and breath again and again. 

Now I confess that sometimes the repetitive and mundane nature of life feels dull and unrewarding.  I am sure we have all had that moment where we think to ourselves, “I just need a change”.  But I also think that there is value in embracing the pattern of “again” that our creator has made an essential part of the plan for His children.  He wants us to do things over and over again. 

He wants us to pray to him again and again.

He wants us to read our scriptures again and again.

He wants us to obey, and love and serve and repent again and again. 

I have always loved the idea that life is a process, not an event.  And every part of life – parenting, marriage, learning, growth, developing any skill  – it all takes time.  It is all a process of doing things over and over again.  Learning from those things, getting better at those things, and then repeating those things. 

I love these words by Dale G. Renlund, “Exercising faith in Jesus Christ, repenting, receiving help from Him, and being forgiven are not onetime events but lifelong processes, processes that are repetitive and iterative.  This is how we endure to the end.”

I found it very interesting that in this past October General Conference alone there were twenty different references to the word process.  Repentance, prayer, scripture study, spiritual growth, revelation, sacrifice, conversion, becoming holier and restoration – were all related to as a process not an event.  They all consist of doing things again and again. 

Now I fully recognize that as in all aspects of life – there must be a balance applied to this principle.  After all, I’m sure we have all heard the definition of insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.”   This is where our prophet’s counsel to “begin with the end in mind” needs to be applied.  When we know what result we want to achieve, we can then discern between which habits are worth repeating and which are not.

I’m sure I am not the only person who does selfish, lazy and sinful things over and over again.

I yell at my children again and again.

I waste time on my phone again and again.

I get distracted from the most important things in life again and again. 

This is why I am so grateful that repentance is a process not an event.  As I continually make mistakes, I can continually change for the better . . . again and again and again. 

So, if you ever find yourself sitting in church covered in cheerios wondering why you come week after week . . .

If you have tucked a child into bed for the tenth time in a night and questioned if you’ll ever get to go to bed yourself . . .

If you have tried and failed a hundred times to achieve any goal you have set for yourself . . .

Please remember this – There is power and purpose in repeating small yet significant acts again and again. It is the very essence of all that God created.

The tide comes home again and again

The seasons change again and again

The sun rises and sets again and again.

We are God’s crowning creations and He wants us to go through the repetitive and iterative process of becoming more and more like him each day. 

“Again, our dear redeeming Lord, We meet in thy beloved name,

While from the fountains of thy love Thy spirit kindles like a flame.

For all the anguish of thy soul, For thy great gift so full and free,

With grateful hearts all penitent.  Dear Lord we do remember thee.”