One Last Thought

Once again, I notice that Lehi continues to council his difficult children in all their rebellion. Even after observing their actions in his vision of the tree of life. "And he did exhort them then with all the feeling of a tender parent..." (1 Ne. 8:37). So I guess I shouldn't give up on my own crazy children. They're all under 10. Laman and Lemuel were probably in their 30's I'm guessing. Even though I'm still not sure Santa should come to our house after this past weekend.

Not to Worry

I split my thought for the morning up so I wouldn't set a new record for the longest blog ever : ) In chapter 9:5-6 Nephi talks about making the plates, "for a wise purpose in him, which purpose I know not." It's such an example of faith and obedience. It may have seemed a small thing to him at the time, to keep a journal of all the events in their lives, but look at the blessings that have come from it. Millions are reaping the blessings of these prophets that took the time to prepare and protect these records. I love what he says in verse 6, "But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men; for behold, he hath all power and unto the fulfilling of all his words. And thus it is. Amen." It's a great reminder to trust in the Lord. I sometimes wonder about the direction I feel we've been given. Is this really the road of employment we should be on? Why was it so important to have another baby at this time when I already have 2 running around the house (I spent a lot of time thinking "are you crazy!")? But we continue to pray and continue to feel good about these decisions. If we are confident that we are following the Lord's will then what is there to worry about? Easier said than done, but He will prepare a way.

Are We Ashamed?

I'm slowly catching up. I read 1 Ne. 8 and 9 today. Lehi's vision of the tree of life. Of all the things I could have taken from this chapter the biggest thing that stood out to me this morning was 8:25, "And after they had partaken of the fruit of the tree they did cast their eyes about as if they were ashamed (italics added)." Ashamed? Huh? Of what? So I actually took a few minutes to look up the footnotes associated with the word and it shed some further light and knowledge on the subject. At first I thought, "how silly to be ashamed", but the more I thought about it the more I realized that perhaps I am somewhat ashamed of the gosple. Not in my heart, and not in my thoughts, but do my actions always depict fearlessness? I know that when I pray I like to be totally alone. Mostly to eliminate noise and other distractions, but if I'm honest it's partly because I don't want to be seen. Why shouldn't I allow my children, or even my husband, to see me practicing my faith? I have a tendency to shy away from gosple discussion as well. Partly for fear of being wrong or looking dumb, partly for fear of giving offense. I think of a conversation I had a month or so ago with my inactive neighbor. They're good people who like the church. They hold callings and come to ward activities, but they don't come on Sundays, haven't been to the temple, and struggle with some other things. She was talking to me about how she hopes to be ready in time for her husband to be able to baptized their now four year-old, and she went on to talk about tithing and how it just isn't possible for them. It was a wonderful opportunity to bear my testimoney and share my feelings about it, but I know the response I gave was less than adequate and kind of side stepped the real issue. I was afraid, and now I'll have to live with that lost opportunity. So, in what ways do we find ourselves ashamed of the gosple, and what can we do to fix it? I pray that we can all be more fearless like Lehi and Nephi.

Temple Attendance

I have deleted most of the previous reading, the list was getting a bit long. I figured it was pretty self explanatory as to where we are in the Book of Mormon. I will keep the talks posted though. So how is everybody's reading going? I struggled a bit this week and definitely noticed on the days I missed. I am really impressed with Shawna and Sallie for being able to pull things out of First Nephi. It is so familiar to me that I tend to read right through it without really paying attention to what it is that I am reading. I definitely need to do better. I have had a couple of thoughts come to me and even though they didn't directly correlate to what I was reading I don't think I would have had them if I hadn't been reading. Spencer and I went to the Temple a few weeks ago and had a difficult time getting there to say the least. One of the many things that slowed us down was the fact that I couldn't find my temple recommend, well really I couldn't find my wallet that my recommend was in. What is funny is that after I prayed for help in finding it, it took me a few tries to get it right. I felt I had put it someplace funny so after finding a DVD I had put in the drawer in the laundry room and a card grace had made in my bathroom I found my wallet in the linen closet:) Anyway it took us over an hour to get out of the house when it should have only been 15 minutes 20 tops. But we did it. We were on our way after dropping Grace off with Shawna when I realized I had forgotten something at home that I needed so we had to turn around and go home to grab that. Anyway during this whole thing I am thinking man we really need to go to the temple if Satan is trying so hard to keep us from being there. I was wanting to go for a specific thing. However well it was good to be in the temple I didn't receive the inspiration I was looking for. When we were leaving I have to admit I was a feeling a bit disconcerted, why was it so difficult to get there if I wasn't going to receive the answer I was looking for. The next morning I picked up my scriptures and started reading when it hit me that I need to go to the temple on a more regular bases not just when I was looking for a specific answer to a pray.

1st weeks reading

i finally finished the first weeks reading. I think the thing that I most got from it is that Heavenly Father is aware of each of us and where we are in life and what we need. We have to have faith that He is aware of us. Lehi didn't know what was going to happen out in the wilderness, but he went and God took care of him. And Sariah murmered. She was a great woman to follow her husband into the wilderness, but she wasn't perfect. It's hard not to murmer when things don't go like I'd like them to. But I have to remember that everything will be alright if I do what I'm supposed to.

Try, try, again

I read 1 Ne. 2 and 3 this morning. It was interesting to me that my scripture time was similar to Nephi & company's experience trying to obtain the plates. Even though I got up early this morning, so did a child of mine, who was eventually joined by the rest of them. It was very frustrating to have my quiet time interrupted, but just as Nephi and his brothers made several attempts to get the plates, I continued in my attempts to read them. Eventually I was succussful, although I don't know how much I got out of them this morning. However, Lehi continued to be hopeful for his crazy kids as he counciled them, and so must I. Better luck tomorrow!

1 Nephi Chapter 1

Okay, so I'm way behind in the scheduled reading. I've been setting my alarm to get up and read for weeks and I finally dragged myself out of bed this morning. However, Stuart and I read together in the evenings and we're ahead of schedule, so if you take averages I'm doing pretty good :) Some thoughts came to me as I was reading this morning. In 1 Ne. 1:1, Nephi says that he was "taught somewhat in all the learning of my father..." It came to my mind that I expect a lot of my children. I expect them to do things the right way and make the right choices all the time, but have I really given them the tools they need, both spiritual and secular, to do that? It was a reminder to me that my children need to be shown through example, and taught by words (preferably gentle words) what to do and how to act. And this applies to everything. They can't be expected to know how to properly clean up a mess, or do their homework if they have not been shown how. They can't know how to follow the promptings of the spirit and make good choices if they have not been instructed how. The other impression I got this morning came out of 1 Ne. 1:7-8. After Lehi had been praying and been privy to visions in one place (it doesn't specify where, or if it does I'm missing it), he returned home and was once again carried away by the spirit to be further instructed. For this to happen the home of Lehi and Sariah must have been a place where the spirit could dwell. Making my home a place where the spirit feels welcome is something we as a family need to work on. There are times (most days between the hour of after school and bedtime) when we don't make it five minutes without some kind of yelling or arguing. I'm not expecting visions, but I know that if we could just change those habits that there would be greater contentment and peace in our home. I know that then there would be greater opportunity to receive inspiration and guidance from the spirit in all matters of life, both spiritual and secular.

Service Project

I know some of you are all ready reading the Book of Mormon and are way ahead of us, please do not feel that this means you cannot participate. Feel free to make comments on what you are reading, the purpose of this blog really was to get us (and when I say us I mean me) to read from our scriptures more often. Also comments do not have to be limited to what we are reading, they can be about anything. So I was wanting to find a service project for Grace to do for the Holidays, and was wondering if anyone else wanted to participate. I was thinking of having her make some cards or a craft to take to a nursing home or send to Iraq. If anybody else has some ideas let me know.

Start Commenting

Well we are slowly growing, I am really excited to see everybody's thoughts so start commenting. I hope everyone is keeping up with the reading ok, I will keep a catch up day for the first little bit till we get going. This is a good week to catch up. There are a some chapters with very few verses. I have definitely noticed a difference in my days since I started reading daily. Especially when I read first thing in the morning, I have more patience with Grace, I get more things done that I need to get done. The day just goes much smoother.