• Hurray! For college because it shuts down and cute college students come home (or come to Grandma’s) and laugh…a lot.
• Hurray! For brothers and sisters who make cousins for my children. What a great time we had with family. Stripes and Solids played a fascinating game of pool in the wee hours of Thanksgiving Eve, complete with running commentary by Ryan, a totally disinterested observer. Wait…wasn’t he the only one with a cue in hand? And an hour of soccer with kids and cousins immediately after Thanksgiving dinner and four pieces of pie is just what the doctor ordered!
• Hurray! For dinner at Grandma’s.
• Hurray! For cherry pie made just the way Mom used to make it.
Other thoughts:
No shopping—not even for a gallon of milk—makes for a great weekend. We spent time with lots of family. We cleaned the house. We cleaned the yard. Strung Christmas lights. Put up the tree. Played Risk. Ate lots of pie. Watched a movie or two. Cut all the boys’ hair. Prepared for Sunday. A very relaxed time. I am SO against stores opening on Thanksgiving Day. Quin and I snuck into Michael’s a few years ago on Thanksgiving to buy our new Christmas tree and I felt very unholy like I was shopping on the Sabbath. Never again. (Except that never is a very long time.)
Since I can’t say it in letters to my missionaries, can I just say it here that I miss those three sometimes so much that it hurts. Especially the twins because they’d never left me before. I wish I could see their smiles and hear them giggle. I miss the dorky games they play with each other. I miss their crazy, grandiose notions of how to spend their time. I miss hearing them play the piano. I miss Heidi’s blustering energy, her hugs, and hearing her wisely analyze life, relationships, and the people around her.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Family Scripture Study
Talking in the Saturday Night Session of Stake Conference:
I love insights and counsel from Pres. Peterson. He has a way of honing in on what is essential and letting non-essentials fall by the wayside. He’s asked me to talk tonight about family scripture study, which is truly one of the “essential” things.
I was the oldest in my family—eight children in all—and I remember that we didn’t start having family scripture study until I was a teenager. (My parents probably brought up the idea in a family council or family home evening—because that’s how they initiated any change in what we were doing as a family—hey, you have everybody there to hear it all at once, whatever you say seems more important because it was brought up in a meeting, you get everyone’s thoughts and buy-in.)
I remember how hard my dad worked to get us up in the morning. He was so determined to start this tradition. It reminds me of a quote by Admiral Hyman Rickover, “Good ideas are not adopted automatically. They must be driven into practice with courageous patience.” Courageous patience. This was my dad. He’d go from bedroom to bedroom, first talking to us really nicely, the next time around he might flap our blankets up and down to let the cold air in, sometimes he’s throw in a “Rise and Shout, the cougars are out!” into the mix. By the third or fourth time around, there was maybe a wee bit of frustration in his voice. :)
Anyway, it was something that he never gave up on. My memory is one of consistency—that for the rest of my growing up, as a family, we read the Book of Mormon on school days in the morning. I asked him what prompted him to start doing it and keep going even when we made it hard. He said that he had always figured you couldn’t expect that all your children would get testimonies of their own and stay in the church. Except then he started noticing some of the men in our ward in Taylorsville. They didn’t act like they expected to lose any of their children. Their kids were growing up, staying strong and true and happy, excelling in scouting :), going on missions, marrying in the temple. So my dad watched what they did with their families and tried to emulate it in his own family. Family scripture study was part of that effort.
What a blessing! I feel so grateful to him for his efforts. I feel like it lifted my family (the one with my brothers and sisters) to a new level of being committed to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Hurray!
Although my dad does not remember a specific talk that compelled him to begin family scripture study in our home, it could have been this talk by Marion G. Romney from that same time period.
Pres. Romney says:
"The great overall struggle in the world today is, as it has always been, for the souls of men. Every soul is personally engaged in the struggle, and he makes his fight with what is in his mind. In the final analysis the battleground is, for each individual, within himself. Inevitably he gravitates toward the subjects of his thoughts.
If we would … build for ourselves and our children great and noble characters, we must keep in our minds and in their minds true and righteous principles for our thoughts and their thoughts to dwell upon.
If we would avoid adopting the evils of the world, we must pursue a course which will daily feed our minds with and call them back to the things of the Spirit. I know of no better way to do this than by daily reading the Book of Mormon (where)…
…the things of the Spirit are taught with mighty power.
I believe with all my heart, …that if our young people could come out of our homes thoroughly …familiar with the teachings of the Book of Mormon, they will not only be inspired by the examples of Nephi, the 2,000 sons of Helaman, and other great Book of Mormon characters to choose the right, they will also be so schooled in the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ that they will be able to know and understand what is right.
From almost every page of the book, there will come to them a moving testimony that Jesus is indeed the Christ, the Son of the living God, our Redeemer and Savior. This witness alone will be a sustaining anchor in every storm.
They will have learned the folly of putting their trust in the learning of men or in the riches of this world. As a matter of fact, there is no fundamental virtue about which they will not be taught, for in the Book of Mormon …is to be found “the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
And so, I counsel you, my beloved brothers and sisters and friends everywhere, to make reading the Book of Mormon a few minutes each day a lifelong practice. All of us need the uninterrupted association with the Spirit of the Lord. Don’t be content with what someone else tells you about what is in it. Drink deeply from the divine fountain itself.
I feel certain that if, in our homes, parents will read from the Book of Mormon prayerfully and regularly, both by themselves and with their children, the spirit of that great book will come to permeate our homes and all who dwell therein. The spirit of reverence will increase; mutual respect and consideration for each other will grow. The spirit of contention will depart. Parents will counsel their children in greater love and wisdom. Children will be more responsive and submissive to the counsel of their parents. Righteousness will increase. Faith, hope, and charity—the pure love of Christ—will abound in our homes and lives, bringing in their wake peace, joy, and happiness."
Wow.
I remember a time in our family several years ago when I was talking to a friend and telling her how contentious our home was –that it was bothering me and I wasn’t sure how to fix it. She was bold and instead of saying, “Oh, yeah, that’s how it is with kids…” she asked if we were having family scripture study—reading the Book of Mormon together every day. My initial response was, well, of course we are. But then I thought and realized, hmmm, we’ve gotten in a hurry in the mornings and in a habit of reading a scripture and thought from a little book we had—spending a minute or less. We weren’t involving everybody, not even opening the actual scriptures!
I was so grateful she would ask, so we would reevaluate our family scripture study time.
There are as many varied ways to work family scripture study as there are families in the world, but here’s what works for us right now:
Mornings. Evenings are all so different. And we have such a variety of ages and bedtimes.
So, because the high-schoolers leave at 6:55, at 6:30 AM when Quin is just about ready for work, he turns on some music to help people wake up. We used to get a variety, but now it’s “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat every morning. It’s loud and all through the house and everyone can hear it in their beds. Just to make sure the music is sinking in, though, Quin knocks on doors, saying Good Morning! About the time the second song ends, Quin turns off the music. Everyone knows prayer is shortly to follow, so by this point they’ve mostly straggled out to the living room.
The youngest is usually the most eager—kneeling right by Dad and helping get the scriptures out (we have 10 or 12 copies of the Book of Mormon in a cupboard right in the room where we read, also some songbooks, in case we feel like adding in a song). But all the kids in elementary school never act like they’re bothered by being woken up—Hey! It’s a new day! The Jr. High children crawl up the stairs wrapped in a blanket and sprawl there right on the stairs barely visible. High schoolers pop in for the prayer. Pop back out to brush their teeth and pack their backpacks. Pop back in on their way out the door and quickly take their turn reading a scripture. “Good-bye!” they say, then run out the door.
Is it okay that everyone only reads one or two verses?...I don’t know.
When all the kids were younger, we had little blank books for each one. They’d draw a picture of what we read or learned that day in scripture reading. Those were the cutest little drawings. I don’t know where those books have gone. Quin’s book is the only one left and he faithfully writes down the verse we’re to start on the next day. And every book of scriptures has a bookmark—it saves a grundle of time trying to find where we are.
Oldest daughter, Heidi, thought the quality of our family scripture study could improve :) and gave us a study guide she’d come across in college. It’s really great with thought questions and general authority quotes to throw in between verses while we’re reading—generates more discussion than we used to have.
Is it okay that we only spend 10 or 15 minutes?...I don’t know.
Now on weekends, we can actually spend more time. We wake up later, aren’t rushed to get anywhere. But it’s one of the first things we do as soon as most people are up. I don’t feel like we can get the day started (that’s mother talk for being able to start ordering people around :)) until we’ve had prayer and scripture.
Is it really okay that on Sundays, we all sleep in and let Quin go to his 6 AM meeting, then do family scripture study without him later?...I don’t know.
So, here’s a plan for family scripture study if you don’t have a daily habit right now.
1. Decide to do it. Be courageous and determined to do it. You could have your home teacher check up on you until your habit solidifies…
2. Decide on a time and stick to it. Quin says, 6:30, but when he’s gone I’m surprised at how hard it is to get the courage to wake everybody up. If I sluggishly wait until 6:45 to get started, Jr, High kids are in the shower, high schoolers are running out the door and it seems cruel to wake up sleeping younger ones…
3. Make it a happy time. As parents, we wouldn’t want to be impatient or irritated or use force to get kids to gather.
4. Involve everyone. Small children can feel very important while they open their book and pretend to read while repeating after you. The big children learn lots of patience waiting while a 1st grader struggles thru a verse or two!
If you already have a daily habit, it’s worth thinking about. Can we raise our efforts a notch? Be more creative and make this a more meaningful time for our family?
I had a very personal experience with the power of family scripture study. A child of ours was waiting for a mission call. For the life of me, I could not get excited about this call. I felt terrible—wanted to be a rejoicing mother. Prayed in several prayers that I could feel happy about this soon-to-come call.
Family Scripture Study one morning. As we finished reading, Quin asked what I thought was a rather silly question. But I thought about it and answered anyway with a kind of pat answer. Most people got up to leave, but I was suddenly rooted to my spot because as I answered, a flash of inspiration came to my mind. I thought about it and another flash like a firework rolled in, then another. I knew something I had never known before AND it was a direct answer to my prayers. I had to hurry back to my bedroom at that point before I burst into tears in front of everyone. It was a beautiful, precious experience. And I was able to look forward to the mission call.
What a BLESSING to have God’s words while we’re here on earth far away from Him. Let’s expose ourselves and our children to His words EVERY DAY in an organized manner, I pray, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
I love insights and counsel from Pres. Peterson. He has a way of honing in on what is essential and letting non-essentials fall by the wayside. He’s asked me to talk tonight about family scripture study, which is truly one of the “essential” things.
I was the oldest in my family—eight children in all—and I remember that we didn’t start having family scripture study until I was a teenager. (My parents probably brought up the idea in a family council or family home evening—because that’s how they initiated any change in what we were doing as a family—hey, you have everybody there to hear it all at once, whatever you say seems more important because it was brought up in a meeting, you get everyone’s thoughts and buy-in.)
I remember how hard my dad worked to get us up in the morning. He was so determined to start this tradition. It reminds me of a quote by Admiral Hyman Rickover, “Good ideas are not adopted automatically. They must be driven into practice with courageous patience.” Courageous patience. This was my dad. He’d go from bedroom to bedroom, first talking to us really nicely, the next time around he might flap our blankets up and down to let the cold air in, sometimes he’s throw in a “Rise and Shout, the cougars are out!” into the mix. By the third or fourth time around, there was maybe a wee bit of frustration in his voice. :)
Anyway, it was something that he never gave up on. My memory is one of consistency—that for the rest of my growing up, as a family, we read the Book of Mormon on school days in the morning. I asked him what prompted him to start doing it and keep going even when we made it hard. He said that he had always figured you couldn’t expect that all your children would get testimonies of their own and stay in the church. Except then he started noticing some of the men in our ward in Taylorsville. They didn’t act like they expected to lose any of their children. Their kids were growing up, staying strong and true and happy, excelling in scouting :), going on missions, marrying in the temple. So my dad watched what they did with their families and tried to emulate it in his own family. Family scripture study was part of that effort.
What a blessing! I feel so grateful to him for his efforts. I feel like it lifted my family (the one with my brothers and sisters) to a new level of being committed to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Hurray!
Although my dad does not remember a specific talk that compelled him to begin family scripture study in our home, it could have been this talk by Marion G. Romney from that same time period.
Pres. Romney says:
"The great overall struggle in the world today is, as it has always been, for the souls of men. Every soul is personally engaged in the struggle, and he makes his fight with what is in his mind. In the final analysis the battleground is, for each individual, within himself. Inevitably he gravitates toward the subjects of his thoughts.
If we would … build for ourselves and our children great and noble characters, we must keep in our minds and in their minds true and righteous principles for our thoughts and their thoughts to dwell upon.
If we would avoid adopting the evils of the world, we must pursue a course which will daily feed our minds with and call them back to the things of the Spirit. I know of no better way to do this than by daily reading the Book of Mormon (where)…
…the things of the Spirit are taught with mighty power.
I believe with all my heart, …that if our young people could come out of our homes thoroughly …familiar with the teachings of the Book of Mormon, they will not only be inspired by the examples of Nephi, the 2,000 sons of Helaman, and other great Book of Mormon characters to choose the right, they will also be so schooled in the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ that they will be able to know and understand what is right.
From almost every page of the book, there will come to them a moving testimony that Jesus is indeed the Christ, the Son of the living God, our Redeemer and Savior. This witness alone will be a sustaining anchor in every storm.
They will have learned the folly of putting their trust in the learning of men or in the riches of this world. As a matter of fact, there is no fundamental virtue about which they will not be taught, for in the Book of Mormon …is to be found “the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
And so, I counsel you, my beloved brothers and sisters and friends everywhere, to make reading the Book of Mormon a few minutes each day a lifelong practice. All of us need the uninterrupted association with the Spirit of the Lord. Don’t be content with what someone else tells you about what is in it. Drink deeply from the divine fountain itself.
I feel certain that if, in our homes, parents will read from the Book of Mormon prayerfully and regularly, both by themselves and with their children, the spirit of that great book will come to permeate our homes and all who dwell therein. The spirit of reverence will increase; mutual respect and consideration for each other will grow. The spirit of contention will depart. Parents will counsel their children in greater love and wisdom. Children will be more responsive and submissive to the counsel of their parents. Righteousness will increase. Faith, hope, and charity—the pure love of Christ—will abound in our homes and lives, bringing in their wake peace, joy, and happiness."
Wow.
I remember a time in our family several years ago when I was talking to a friend and telling her how contentious our home was –that it was bothering me and I wasn’t sure how to fix it. She was bold and instead of saying, “Oh, yeah, that’s how it is with kids…” she asked if we were having family scripture study—reading the Book of Mormon together every day. My initial response was, well, of course we are. But then I thought and realized, hmmm, we’ve gotten in a hurry in the mornings and in a habit of reading a scripture and thought from a little book we had—spending a minute or less. We weren’t involving everybody, not even opening the actual scriptures!
I was so grateful she would ask, so we would reevaluate our family scripture study time.
There are as many varied ways to work family scripture study as there are families in the world, but here’s what works for us right now:
Mornings. Evenings are all so different. And we have such a variety of ages and bedtimes.
So, because the high-schoolers leave at 6:55, at 6:30 AM when Quin is just about ready for work, he turns on some music to help people wake up. We used to get a variety, but now it’s “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat every morning. It’s loud and all through the house and everyone can hear it in their beds. Just to make sure the music is sinking in, though, Quin knocks on doors, saying Good Morning! About the time the second song ends, Quin turns off the music. Everyone knows prayer is shortly to follow, so by this point they’ve mostly straggled out to the living room.
The youngest is usually the most eager—kneeling right by Dad and helping get the scriptures out (we have 10 or 12 copies of the Book of Mormon in a cupboard right in the room where we read, also some songbooks, in case we feel like adding in a song). But all the kids in elementary school never act like they’re bothered by being woken up—Hey! It’s a new day! The Jr. High children crawl up the stairs wrapped in a blanket and sprawl there right on the stairs barely visible. High schoolers pop in for the prayer. Pop back out to brush their teeth and pack their backpacks. Pop back in on their way out the door and quickly take their turn reading a scripture. “Good-bye!” they say, then run out the door.
Is it okay that everyone only reads one or two verses?...I don’t know.
When all the kids were younger, we had little blank books for each one. They’d draw a picture of what we read or learned that day in scripture reading. Those were the cutest little drawings. I don’t know where those books have gone. Quin’s book is the only one left and he faithfully writes down the verse we’re to start on the next day. And every book of scriptures has a bookmark—it saves a grundle of time trying to find where we are.
Oldest daughter, Heidi, thought the quality of our family scripture study could improve :) and gave us a study guide she’d come across in college. It’s really great with thought questions and general authority quotes to throw in between verses while we’re reading—generates more discussion than we used to have.
Is it okay that we only spend 10 or 15 minutes?...I don’t know.
Now on weekends, we can actually spend more time. We wake up later, aren’t rushed to get anywhere. But it’s one of the first things we do as soon as most people are up. I don’t feel like we can get the day started (that’s mother talk for being able to start ordering people around :)) until we’ve had prayer and scripture.
Is it really okay that on Sundays, we all sleep in and let Quin go to his 6 AM meeting, then do family scripture study without him later?...I don’t know.
So, here’s a plan for family scripture study if you don’t have a daily habit right now.
1. Decide to do it. Be courageous and determined to do it. You could have your home teacher check up on you until your habit solidifies…
2. Decide on a time and stick to it. Quin says, 6:30, but when he’s gone I’m surprised at how hard it is to get the courage to wake everybody up. If I sluggishly wait until 6:45 to get started, Jr, High kids are in the shower, high schoolers are running out the door and it seems cruel to wake up sleeping younger ones…
3. Make it a happy time. As parents, we wouldn’t want to be impatient or irritated or use force to get kids to gather.
4. Involve everyone. Small children can feel very important while they open their book and pretend to read while repeating after you. The big children learn lots of patience waiting while a 1st grader struggles thru a verse or two!
If you already have a daily habit, it’s worth thinking about. Can we raise our efforts a notch? Be more creative and make this a more meaningful time for our family?
I had a very personal experience with the power of family scripture study. A child of ours was waiting for a mission call. For the life of me, I could not get excited about this call. I felt terrible—wanted to be a rejoicing mother. Prayed in several prayers that I could feel happy about this soon-to-come call.
Family Scripture Study one morning. As we finished reading, Quin asked what I thought was a rather silly question. But I thought about it and answered anyway with a kind of pat answer. Most people got up to leave, but I was suddenly rooted to my spot because as I answered, a flash of inspiration came to my mind. I thought about it and another flash like a firework rolled in, then another. I knew something I had never known before AND it was a direct answer to my prayers. I had to hurry back to my bedroom at that point before I burst into tears in front of everyone. It was a beautiful, precious experience. And I was able to look forward to the mission call.
What a BLESSING to have God’s words while we’re here on earth far away from Him. Let’s expose ourselves and our children to His words EVERY DAY in an organized manner, I pray, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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