Well, I'm finally trying to sit down and begin the early formations of some kind of a journal, in order to satisfy the inner desires of my heart that have urged me to do this for quite a few years now. Words cannot express the gratitude that fills my heart for a friend who has set such a wonderful example of this for me and has inspired me so greatly, that I cannot resist the urge (or persistent prompting) to do this. But, as I sit here tonight, I am so grateful!
The scriptures are such sweet bliss! How do we ever catch ourselves not feasting upon the Lord's words? Can we actually afford to diet from such sweetness? In following the council from our good Bishop (to set a goal for ourselves to truly dive into the scriptures and study them like we never have before - much like a great love affair), our family and me, personally, decided to take his challenge. In doing so, we challenged ourselves to be 100% - to read as a family, and personally, every single day. I can gladly report that so far we are 100%! This has proved to be a wonderful challenge for us and here's why.
I can't even begin to go into detail right now of the turmoil and chaos that has existed in our lives over the past year, but I will tell you of the great blessings of scripture reading and study! My dear sweet friend, who is such a spiritual giant and mentor to me, has a wonderful system where she has created "scripture squares" (just little carpet samples that her family lines up in a circle and sits on to have family scripture study every night). What a fantastic idea!! Ever since our couch broke last October, and we are limited to trying to seat the seven of us on a love seat and a recliner, there was always fighting over who got to sit next to mom and dad on the couch - excuse me, love seat! So, what if nobody gets to sit on the couch, but we all get to sit on the floor - together - as equals! One word - Fabulous!
So, I got a wild-hair-brained idea! Money has been tight and getting to a carpet place wasn't quite in the plans, so I decided that I would get out my extra fabric and just make a square for each of us. As a homemaking lesson for my girls, I let them help me pick out their own fabric, cut it, and help me run it through the sewing machine. They absolutely loved this. I regret, however, that I did not take the opportunity to capture a snapshot of this for memories, but it was great bonding time for us. They were enthralled!
Now we have our scripture squares that are neatly folded every night and placed next to our scriptures. There is pure delight when it comes to reading our scriptures and little Tyler loves to help lay the scripture squares out and knows exactly where he is supposed to sit. But, it seems like there has been so much more... Bryson has really gotten good at reading his scriptures by himself and Tyler is finally able to repeat the words and loves to have his turn. There is by far more energy, more discussion, and more reverence when we read scriptures now. Who would have thought that a little square could make such a difference!
For family home evening last night we talked about the importance of our scriptures and how they contain the words of our ancestors to us! We talked about how to search our scriptures for answers when we need help from our loving Heavenly Father, and how it is so important to read their words. Also, how they help us to know what to do and remind us how to live our lives, so that we might be more like our Savior. We sang "Scripture Power" and hid little scriptures throughout the house and had each one of the kids "search" for their scriptures. All of this was done while sitting on our new scripture squares, which was quite the hit and attention getter! Even little Tyler sat pretty reverent on his little Frog square!
The scriptures are such a wonderful blessing in our lives. They are no doubt an instant answer and comfort to us (direct from the Lord) when we are searching for guidance, direction, love, acceptance, faith, and encouragement to continue the everyday battle of life! I have recently learned how to greater study my scriptures with more depth and have truly begun to recognize the great power that they hold, if we but open them! Can we afford not to? John 6:35,51 says "I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. ... I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever". There simply is no way we can diet from our scriptures and survive!
I am so grateful for the opportunity the Lord has given me (my family, really) to live in this beautiful place, where I have met so many people that are an inspiration to my life daily! We have, in turn, taken this infectious scripture power and attempted to share it with our ward family (which is a whole other story!) There is no doubt the scriptures are the word of God and that we can find peace and refuge from the storms of life, if we but diligently seek for safety and nourishment!
The scriptures are such sweet bliss! How do we ever catch ourselves not feasting upon the Lord's words? Can we actually afford to diet from such sweetness? In following the council from our good Bishop (to set a goal for ourselves to truly dive into the scriptures and study them like we never have before - much like a great love affair), our family and me, personally, decided to take his challenge. In doing so, we challenged ourselves to be 100% - to read as a family, and personally, every single day. I can gladly report that so far we are 100%! This has proved to be a wonderful challenge for us and here's why.
I can't even begin to go into detail right now of the turmoil and chaos that has existed in our lives over the past year, but I will tell you of the great blessings of scripture reading and study! My dear sweet friend, who is such a spiritual giant and mentor to me, has a wonderful system where she has created "scripture squares" (just little carpet samples that her family lines up in a circle and sits on to have family scripture study every night). What a fantastic idea!! Ever since our couch broke last October, and we are limited to trying to seat the seven of us on a love seat and a recliner, there was always fighting over who got to sit next to mom and dad on the couch - excuse me, love seat! So, what if nobody gets to sit on the couch, but we all get to sit on the floor - together - as equals! One word - Fabulous!
So, I got a wild-hair-brained idea! Money has been tight and getting to a carpet place wasn't quite in the plans, so I decided that I would get out my extra fabric and just make a square for each of us. As a homemaking lesson for my girls, I let them help me pick out their own fabric, cut it, and help me run it through the sewing machine. They absolutely loved this. I regret, however, that I did not take the opportunity to capture a snapshot of this for memories, but it was great bonding time for us. They were enthralled!
Now we have our scripture squares that are neatly folded every night and placed next to our scriptures. There is pure delight when it comes to reading our scriptures and little Tyler loves to help lay the scripture squares out and knows exactly where he is supposed to sit. But, it seems like there has been so much more... Bryson has really gotten good at reading his scriptures by himself and Tyler is finally able to repeat the words and loves to have his turn. There is by far more energy, more discussion, and more reverence when we read scriptures now. Who would have thought that a little square could make such a difference!
For family home evening last night we talked about the importance of our scriptures and how they contain the words of our ancestors to us! We talked about how to search our scriptures for answers when we need help from our loving Heavenly Father, and how it is so important to read their words. Also, how they help us to know what to do and remind us how to live our lives, so that we might be more like our Savior. We sang "Scripture Power" and hid little scriptures throughout the house and had each one of the kids "search" for their scriptures. All of this was done while sitting on our new scripture squares, which was quite the hit and attention getter! Even little Tyler sat pretty reverent on his little Frog square!
The scriptures are such a wonderful blessing in our lives. They are no doubt an instant answer and comfort to us (direct from the Lord) when we are searching for guidance, direction, love, acceptance, faith, and encouragement to continue the everyday battle of life! I have recently learned how to greater study my scriptures with more depth and have truly begun to recognize the great power that they hold, if we but open them! Can we afford not to? John 6:35,51 says "I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. ... I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever". There simply is no way we can diet from our scriptures and survive!
I am so grateful for the opportunity the Lord has given me (my family, really) to live in this beautiful place, where I have met so many people that are an inspiration to my life daily! We have, in turn, taken this infectious scripture power and attempted to share it with our ward family (which is a whole other story!) There is no doubt the scriptures are the word of God and that we can find peace and refuge from the storms of life, if we but diligently seek for safety and nourishment!
1 comment:
I love their blankets you made them. Those are the ones you were talking about at Christmas right?
Very cute. And so smart.
We love you guys so much and hope you are having such a wonderful Easter!
Love you all!
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