Hello Friends! I feel SO BLESSED to finally have a functioning laptop! My sweet hubby took some of his things to a pawn shop and traded them so I could have one as a surprise Mother's Day gift. As a writer and musician hoping to have published media someday, I'm so grateful for my own tool! I have been making the most of it, taking it with me into the rooms I clean and listening to Conference talks online as I fold laundry and do dishes.
A great talk with some awesome council for parents was "In Tune With The Music of Faith" in this past April's session by Elder Cook. I loved this story...
I
hope we are reading the Book of Mormon with our children regularly. I
have discussed this with my own children. They have shared with me two
observations.
First, persistence in reading the scriptures daily as a
family is the key. My daughter in a lighthearted way describes their
early-morning efforts with mostly teenage children to consistently read
the scriptures. She and her husband wake up early in the morning and
move through the blurry mist to grasp the iron railing that lines their
staircase to where their family gathers to read the word of God.
Persistence is the answer, and a sense of humor helps. It requires great
effort from every family member every day, but it is worth the effort.
Temporary setbacks are overshadowed by persistence.
The
second is how our youngest son and his wife are reading the scriptures
with their young family. Two out of their four children are not old
enough to read. For the five-year-old, they have five finger signals to
which he responds in order for him to participate fully in the family
scripture reading. The signal for finger 1 is for him to repeat, “And it
came to pass” whenever it appears in the Book of Mormon. I have to
admit that I love the fact that the phrase appears so often.
Incidentally, for the interest of young families, finger signal 2 is
“And thus we see”; fingers 3, 4, and 5 are chosen by the parents based
on the words contained in the chapter they are reading.
We
know that family scripture study and family home evenings are not
always perfect. Regardless of the challenges you face, do not become
discouraged.
The number one reason I keep trying to figure out our family's scripture study rhythm is because I want my kids to know and understand the gospel. Saying it has helped me would be a gross understatement. It is WHY I'M STILL HERE! But I want to remember too that learning persistence and patience while having faith are great qualities to have, and I can develop them through the daily endeavors of having family study and worship.
We've been working hard on developing consistence with our children's personal prayer. Basically, we want them to know that starting and ending each day by talking with their Heavenly Father can bring them guidance, joy and peace. Choosing to count your blessings, having someone you can always ask for help, and then being able to trust in Him and leave the decision in His hands is priceless! I had a great experience with prayer with my daughter the other night....
It started out the same as many other nights, with her saying "I'm tired....I don't know what to say." So we tried something new. I started the prayer. Then she thanked Heavenly Father for something. Then I did. Then she did and so on. Then I asked for something, and she did and the pattern continued until she concluded the prayer. When we lifted our heads she smiled a huge-Sophia-sparkle-eyed-smile. "I like how I feel!" she said. I explained to her that was the Holy Ghost. Again, "It feels so cool!" It does feel cool. :) We had a great little chat about the wonderful feeling the Spirit can give us when we make good choices and Heavenly Father communicates His love to us.
The Gospel of Christ is true! It IS WORTH IT! No, it isn't always easy but nothing worth having is. I'm grateful that I get to have this difficult, challenging but also extremely rewarding stewardship of motherhood. Thanks for reading! Keep it up! Love, Eva
No comments:
Post a Comment