Keep Climbing

Sometimes when God wants to teach me something, He has to repeat it over and over and over again before I get it. For example, just recently a BYU-I talk from President Eyring has come up over and over again. One day I stumbled upon it while looking for something to listen to. Then it showed up in a letter to my stake presidency. And then, just this past Sunday it was brought up repeatedly in my Stake Conference. Coincidental? I think not. 

Hair-Do's, Answers, and Social Media

I'm happy to report that I made it safely home from the laundromat yesterday. 

PHEW!

To celebrate my safe return (okay not really), I took a little visit to my favorite hair salon and had my stylist chop my hair off!  It always feels so good to get a fresh new do.

Clint went on a little over-night fishing trip with some friends. Won't he be surprised when he gets home!

I love it!

Yesterday I also listened to President Russell M. Nelson's Worldwide Devotional for Young Adults.  Sister Nelson also spoke (Find her talk HERE). These are both amazing -AH MAZING talks about being who you are meant to be.

 In Sister Nelson's talk she issued a challenge.  She said,

"Would you be willing to try an experiment for 30 days?

"Daily kneel and thank your Heavenly Father for the scriptures.  Tell Him the one question you most need to have answered that day.  Plead to have the Holy Ghost with you as you read.  Then open your scriptures anywhere, and read until you find the answer.  Try it for 30 days and see what happens".

"[Let] the scriptures become our "go-to source" for answers and for the comfort we may realize we've often been seeking online."

She also talks about the effects of social media on us, but I'll let you read that for yourself.

(I talk about my experience with this HERE, HERE, and HERE)

Challenge

At the end of the school year, last year (as in May 29,  2015) I had the brilliant idea to challeng my family to read the whole entire Book of Mormon before school began in August.  If they finished it, I would take them to the amusement park.  

I don't know what I was thinking!  I know now that 6 weeks is not a lot of time.  We would have to read 4 chapters a day in order to finish on time. I knew my two youngest would need help so, each night before bed I would read to them for what seemed like hours, also during the day, while eating lunch, we would listen to the audio version.  Needless to say, we missed a few days, and we didn't finish it.  In fact, we only made it a little over halfway through Alma!   

We are continuing to read a little each day, and hope to finish it before school gets out next year.

A few weeks ago, I was challenged to read the entire Book of Mormon before the end of the year.  I accepted the challenge, and now I'm challenging YOU!  

There are 531 pages and 239 chapters in the Book of Mormon.

If you begin today, you have 92 days. So, if you want to read by pages, you need to read 6 pages per day. 

If you want to read by chapters it equals out to be about 2.5 chapters a day.

So what do you say?  Want to read with me?

Because He Lives!

This week we are celebrating Easter at our house.  Starting last week, during our morning devotionals, we have been learning about the Savior's last week before His crucifixion and resurrection.  We are using the timeline found in the April 2011 Friend magazine (HERE). 

Last night we also had an Easter FHE.  (We also had a total melt-down/tantrum right before the opening prayer.  It was pretty awesome.  Finally a game of trampoline dodge-ball was able to get all the aggression out and we were able to move on with the rest of the evening.) #5 was in charge of the lesson.  She shared the Church's new Easter video- Because He Lives!  She then told us the story President Faust used in his talk, The Atonement:  Our Greatest Hope.

 "He took my whipping for me"

(Cute video of this story HERE)

Some years ago, President Gordon B. Hinckley told “something of a parable” about “a one room school house in the mountains of Virginia where the boys were so rough no teacher had been able to handle them.

“Then one day an inexperienced young teacher applied. He was told that every teacher had received an awful beating, but the teacher accepted the risk. The first day of school the teacher asked the boys to establish their own rules and the penalty for breaking the rules. The class came up with 10 rules, which were written on the blackboard. Then the teacher asked, ‘What shall we do with one who breaks the rules?’

“‘Beat him across the back ten times without his coat on,’ came the response.

“A day or so later, … the lunch of a big student, named Tom, was stolen. ‘The thief was located—a little hungry fellow, about ten years old.’

“As Little Jim came up to take his licking, he pleaded to keep his coat on. ‘Take your coat off,’ the teacher said. ‘You helped make the rules!’

“The boy took off the coat. He had no shirt and revealed a bony little crippled body. As the teacher hesitated with the rod, Big Tom jumped to his feet and volunteered to take the boy’s licking.

“‘Very well, there is a certain law that one can become a substitute for another. Are you all agreed?’ the teacher asked.

“After five strokes across Tom’s back, the rod broke. The class was sobbing. ‘Little Jim had reached up and caught Tom with both arms around his neck. “Tom, I’m sorry that I stole your lunch, but I was awful hungry. Tom, I will love you till I die for taking my licking for me! Yes, I will love you forever!”’” 

President Hinckley then quoted Isaiah: (Isaiah 53:4-5)

“Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows. …

“… He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”

I am grateful for the Savior.  No matter what I've done or what I've not done in my life.  No matter who I am or who I was, He is here for me, for you, for all of us.  No matter what.

Look Out!

This week in our morning devotionals we are learning about humility.  

"Humility is not thinking less of yourself,

it's thinking of yourself less."

-C.S. Lewis

Our family night lesson (given by #2) went along perfectly with this.

To better understand this object lesson, go grab a shiny metal spoon.

Go ahead, I'll wait for you.

Now, hold the spoon with the inside concave/bowl side facing you (like you are going to eat something).  Look at yourself.  What do you see?  

A distorted person?  You're upside down!

Now flip the spoon the other way- to the outside.  How do you look now?

Better?  Right side up, right?

image source

So, what's the point?

The Lesson of the Spoon

When we focus on ourselves, getting wrapped up in our worries, and our own concerns we're upside down, and our lives become distorted.

But if we place our focus outward, on to others, serving them, taking interest in their lives, life is right side up.  Life is better when we focus on others rather than ourselves.  This is a huge component to being happy! 

"Turning toward others really is the key to keeping life right side up."

-Lloyd David Newell

MORE HERE

Scripture Sight Words

 I've said it before, and I'll say it again:

It is really important for me as a mother to teach my children to connect with the scriptures.

A few years ago, my sister gave each member of our family a paperback Book of Mormon.  We have used and reused these things.  

This is my youngest.  She, for the last year, occasionally takes her little blue Book of Mormon to bed and pretends to read a page or two.  She has always pretended to read.  Remember THIS? (Scroll to the very end.)  Fortunately she is now in Kindergarten and she is learning to read.  Each week she learns a new 'sight-word' or two.  Words like to, the, for, they, look, etc.

 Last week, I saw her just marking away in her blue book of scripture.  When I asked her what she was marking, she excitedly said, "Oh just all the words I know."

She might not be able to read -read the Book of Mormon, but she's thrilled to be able to find and read all the sight-words she knows.   To her, she's reading the scriptures just like her siblings.

And that does a mama's heart good.

Fortify Your Family

As you know (because I've mentioned it 1000 times), my goal for 2015 is to Connect.  One thing I'm trying to connect to is the scriptures.  I also want my children to have a connection with the scriptures.  I want them to not only read them, and be familiar with them, but I want them to know to turn to them to find the comfort, answers, and help they need.

Scriptures = Power

Scripture Power- Keeps me safe from sin

Scripture Power is the power to win

Scripture Power- everyday I need the power that I get each time I read

One thing I started doing this year (yep it's been a whole week) is discussing one to two verses of scripture with my children each morning before I send them out the door to face the world.  We have been following this program, and it has been awesome.  It takes less than 5 minutes and my children are actually listening (at least I think the blank stares mean they are).  As a mother, I love the idea that I have given my children a little bit of spiritual armor to help protect them outside of our home.  Each week there is a specific theme, and each daily scripture builds on that theme.  Hopefully by the end of the week, after talking about it each day, that principle will not only be learned but also internalized.

This book, 52 Weeks to Fortify your Family, was released just today.  It's the same program, but in more detail.  Plus there are 52 weeks of devotionals instead of  32 . 

AND

 If you buy it today, you will also qualify for over $100 in extras!  

SQUEAL - Who doesn't love free stuff?

The Kindle ebook is only $3.99!

Here is the Link: http://amzn.to/1C5Rtgr  

 #FortifyYourFamilybook

The BIG Reward!

Monday we celebrated finishing the book of First Nephi together as a family (I told you we were going slow!) by going out for ice cream- a family favorite.

 This boy, my 3rd son, and 4th child went for the Kong Cone- a giant (probably close to a foot tall from cone to top) ice cream cone.  We placed bets on if he would finish it or not, most of us guessing he wouldn't.  What do you think?

 Here he is more than half way. . . .

Now he's practically down to the cone, but he's looking a little full.

If you guessed 

that 

he

would

finish it

all. . . .

You're

RIGHT!

He ate the whole thing, cone and all!

I was totally impressed.

Finished

image source

I'm done, finished, completed, and most of all I've accomplished the goal I set out for myself to read the Doctrine and Covenants this month.  And boy am I glad to be done.  I'm embarrassed to admit that this is my first to ever read the D&C cover to cover, and it was really challenging for me.  The next time I read it, I plan to take it slowly and use a supplement book like this to help me understand it better.

While I still spent a few minutes in the Book of Mormon each day preparing for family scripture study, I've missed my daily dates with the Book of Mormon and can't wait to get reacquainted.

P.S.- Have you heard about My Origination?  CHECK IT OUT!  Do you think I could pass as an 18 year old so I can do this?  I really really want to.

Open Them, Read Them, Love Them

The past few weeks, I've felt a strong prompting that I need to change the way we do family scripture study.  Our family scripture study (on the nights we'd remember to do it) would goes something like this:

Tired Dad quickly reading a few verses, which to the kids would sound something very similar to Charlie Brown's teacher - And it came to pass wah wah wahh wah wah wah wahhh.  They were understanding nothing, and getting nothing out of it.

As a mother, I pray regularly for God's help in providing spiritual experiences to help build my children's testimonies.  One day, a few weeks ago, I had an epiphany:  I can't sit around and wait for someone else to provide these experiences, I have to do my part too.  I can provide opportunities for spiritual experiences in my home, and one way to do this is through our nightly family scripture reading.  DUH!  

I really want my children to not see the scriptures as boring and undesirable.  I want them to love the scriptures and desire to open them, and read them, and feel the Spirit testify of them.  Every family scripture time can be an opportunity for my children to have a spiritual experience.  I just needed to put in a little more work.

I decided to start with the Book of Mormon.  We are using this schedule here.  It breaks down the Book of Mormon into sections that take about 5 minute or less to read, which is perfect for my family.

I read the assigned reading on my own beforehand.

Coming up with a theme from those verses (sometimes there are multiple ones)

EX:  1 Nephi 1:1-1 Nephi 1:15 - Prayers are answered

1 Nephi 2:16-1Nephi 3:8 - How to gain your own testimony & Importance of following the prophet

Then (through prayer) I plan an activity to go along with what were reading.  My kids do the activity while listening to that day's verses, and the then we talk about the theme and what those verses teach.

Some activities we've done so far are:

Painted fire on rocks (1 Nephi 1:6) to remind us that Lehi's prayers were answered and Heavenly Father answers our prayers too.

 Colored Nephi and his family (Pictures from HERE)

 One night we talked about how it's important to Fully Rely On God (FROG) just like Nephi did while attempting to get the Brass Plates. (1 Nephi 4)

Another night we acted out the story using the pictures we colored.

So far (fingers crossed), this has been exciting and fun for all my kids (surprisingly even my teenagers).  They are listening, and I think they are learning, and by the Grace of God, they are feeling His Spirit and strengthening their testimonies.

Yes, it's a lot of planning and a lot of work, but if it brings my children closer to Christ and instills in them a love for God's Word, it's totally worth it.