I Didn't Want To Go To Jazzercise

Not wanting to go to Jazzercise is no big news. I never want to go to Jazzercise. I don't like to exercise and I don't like to leave my house, especially in the morning, especially when my son is at school and my husband is at work. It is ninety minutes out of my morning when you count driving time, and by the time I get home it's 11:00 and practically noon and the day is half over! That morning time alone in my house is so precious to me.

But I'm always glad I went. Once I get there and get my spot and my earplugs are in (that's a must!) I do enjoy moving to music, seeing old and new friends there, and knowing that I'm doing something really good for my body. I feel like exercise is "church" for my body, and I even get some nice inspirations while I'm jumping around. I've gotten organized enough to have my exercise clothes ready the night before and it's gotten to be enough of a habit that it's not such an emotional effort to make myself go.

But this morning..... Oh, it was such a beautiful, warm, sunny morning and the birds were chirping and I had lots of projects that I really wanted to work on, and not leave my house. I knew that it would take only the tiniest thing to divert me from going. But I made myself fill up my water bottle and get in the car. It was a tremendous effort. As I started driving I prayed that I would want to go more. I turned on my soothing Christian music CD that my dear friend, Tiffany, had given me, and I started to cry a little about how much I did not want to leave my house and how it was not an unrighteous desire to want to stay in my house and maybe I was *supposed* to stay home?.....

About halfway to the Jazzercise studio, as I was driving past Home Depot, I suddenly noticed a familiar figure walking heavily along the sidewalk, carrying a backpack and a guitar in a padded case. I thought, "That looks just like A. from church. He must be walking to school. He lives on the other side of town. He is so late for school and he is still a long way away. Maybe I should stop and offer him a ride?"

I pondered the practicality of this but something told me it was the right thing to do. I was not in the right lane but at a stop light I made a quick decision. I waited for the other cars in the right lane to pass, then I changed lanes, turned the corner, pulled over to the side of the road with my blinkers on, and waited. It seemed to take a long time for A. to catch up to me (I had pulled over as soon as I could, considering the heavy traffic) and I wondered if it really was A., and if it wasn't, what was this person going to think of me, and would I still offer him a ride if it wasn't the kid I thought I knew??

He eventually turned the corner, caught up to me, and I called to him through the window. I've only talked to him a couple of times but he recognized me when I told him I was from church. He was so happy that I stopped! He said, "You saved me!" I asked him if he normally got a ride to seminary from a ward member, and he said yes, but today was a late-start day and he had missed two different city buses.

There are two high schools that serve our town and one is near the coast where there is a wide variety of income levels, and the other is more inland and in a pretty affluent area. A. did not make the lottery to get into the high-demand limited-space coastal school, so he has to go to the suburban school. This can be a real problem when it's so far away, you are the oldest of four kids of a single mom and one of the kids has serious medical issues.

I told him that I sympathized with what a long walk he had, and that I used to miss the bus all the time when I was growing up in New England and would often end up trying to ride my bike to school in the snow. He was so fascinated! "You grew up on the East Coast? Wow, that must have been a lot harder that what I have to do." He's such a smart kid and so interested in things and other people. I told him that I was on my way to Jazzercise when I spotted him. He asked me, "What's Jazzercise?" and I told him and told him I go with our Bishop's wife and it's so awesome because she's healthy now and can go. He said how much he loves their family and he said, "Our Bishop is Superman! He's always helping people!"

I asked him about the guitar and his face lit up! He told me that he plays four instruments! By then we were in front of the school, and although he was a little late, he insisted on showing me videos of him playing the guitar and drums. He's really good! I told him that all three of my older children are musicians and two are in bands. I told him that we need to have a ward talent show and he needs to be in it. I could completely relate to him because I spent years hearing the sound of drums and guitars coming from my older son's room. He loved telling me about his music and having me appreciate it!

I said, "I don't want to make you uncomfortable, but do you have lunch or money for lunch?" He said, "No, but my seminary teacher makes me a bag lunch every day!" I pressed, "But you didn't have seminary today, right?" He affirmed that and graciously accepted lunch money. But I think he was more grateful for the attention.

I have two genius friends, young moms who have created successful lives in spite of very difficult childhoods. I can see my young friend in twenty years or even five or ten years thriving under the nurturing that our church family is giving him. I am so grateful to the gospel for allowing me to know a person like him who otherwise I might never have crossed paths with in a meaningful way. This young man needed mothering today and I needed someone to mother. With tears in my eyes, I drove back towards the main road, in awe at the workings of the Spirit that would send me to this boy's aid. I could still have gone to part of Jazzercise, but it doesn't take much to talk me out of it. I came home and wrote this instead. ;)