Scripture Journals

Once upon a time, I served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Florida. Every morning, I had one hour to do personal studies in the scriptures. It was then that I fell in love with my scriptures for the first time, treasuring up truths, discovering new insights, and seeing the incredible worth of scriptures in my life.

That was awhile ago, 2002 to be exact. Since then, life has gotten busier, and more distractions to slowly push me away from daily scripture study. Challenging, but not impossible to continue reading, but I've been struggling with it for awhile.

Last week, I found gold on Youtube. I seriously have no desire to have live tv/cable when there is youtube. (Except for the Olympics. That would have been cool to see.) I love youtube almost more the Pinterest.

I was searching for David A. Bednar videos on scripture studying, my topic of research for this month.  I saw this video come up, clicked on it, and discovered that it was a gold find. This is Shannon from The Red Headed Hostess site.  I remember stumbling on her site in the past for some free church printables, but that's all I knew about her. I didn't know that she was a seminary teacher for 13 years, loves to learn, and was about to share some precious knowledge with me in this video.

This is a 40 minute video, so definitely bookmark it, add it to your youtube playlist, and watch later when you can have no distractions. I had to wait for my kids to go to bed to watch it the first time. (I've watched it about three times now. I like it, a lot:)

Some of the points she shares:

• Studying the scriptures can be hard for us because we haven't 'learned how to learn' yet. 
• As she reads scriptures, church talk, etc, she writes down what she learns and any insights in a journal, with the intent of giving one each to her kids to inherit. When she is no longer on the earth, she can still help her kids with her written words of testimony, encouragement, and love for them. That's what did it for me. I just love that idea, and have started journaling more when I study with the intent to share my testimony and thoughts with my precious kids. What better thing for them to have then your words written to them? 
• Anyone can do this. We all have time, and we don't need to worry about our handwriting to start a journal. 
• Don't do it for you; do it for your kids, thus blessing you and them.
• She gives some great scripture study tips here, that you can print off. Most helpful. 

Now, all I want to do is study and learn. Insanely cool, but hard because obviously, I need to stay balanced with homeschooling, family time, hubby time, everything! One sweet friend asked me when I have time to study. When Shaun is off work, that really helps. I sneak in about 30 minutes during the 1pm hour, when my younger ones take a little rest. When it's just me home, I help Ethan find something to do, possibly watch some PBS or play a game, just so I can read. 

Find a time in your day that would work, even if it's only 10 minutes. It's possible, but don't give up. Satan doesn't want you to read your scriptures, at all. He knows they will bring you peace, and will try to discourage you. Don't give up! Just make it a priority.

I have seen what has happened from our family and my personal scripture reading. I have had less inclination to yell at the kids. Huge blessing. I find that I have more patience. I love rediscovering gospel truths, digging into the New Testament more and everywhere else, and seeing scriptures that I don't ever remember reading more. It has been so great.

That's all for today, because I want to go study. I hope this helps someone:)

Family Scripture Study; It's Working!

First off, a few pictures of our visit to the Portland Zoo. We took advantage of a sunny morning, well, mixed with clouds and a few showers on us, but a good morning. It was wonderful to nearly have the park to ourselves, going on a weekday. The walk around the zoo was so gorgeous. It's a zoo within a forest, the huge Oregon trees towering over the walkways. 

This week, my testimony of family scripture reading has been strengthened, and I have to write this down. For the past few weeks, we've had too much yelling, too much meanness between the kids, and not enough kindness and love. It was getting to all of us, and I wanted it to stop. For the hundreth time, I tried again to start up our daily reading with the kids.

 Last Sunday, we decided to set a goal. It was really easy; 'Let's just see if we can read our scriptures for 7 days, just till the next Sunday. Let's see if we can actually do it', hoping it would last longer. 

Well, here's the magic that has happened in our home since Sunday; the spirit is in our home again. How can I tell? Ethan and Kevin have played nice together for two days straight. They've been buddies, playing in the backyard digging up worms, putting them in jars, and actually being obedient and leaving them outside to play with. They still have had their sibling moments of yuck, but it has gone down a lot. 

Kevin and Brooke have been playing so sweetly together. Kevin makes her giggle like crazy. She tickles him. In the picture above, he was holding her hand, and helping her around the zoo. All of this has made my heart sing with joy.

This is what our scripture study consists of; a little before bedtime we've been sitting on our big king bed. I play a church song on the guitar, and try to get the kids to sing. It doesn't matter if they sing, as long as we're actually doing something. We then have read a scripture mastery verse, or something. At least one verse, and then we try to talk about it, within their short attention spans. Then, we say our family prayers, and get them ready for bed. That's it, and because we've done it every night since Sunday, the love and kindness has returned. I don't want it to leave, so I'm going to try very hard to be consistent into next week and beyond. 

I've also learned some incredible things about my personal scripture studying and keeping a scripture journal. That will be another post for next week. I can't wait to share what I've learned. All I can say is this; I just want to study my scriptures in my free time. I actually want to, isn't that insane? I haven't felt that way since the mission. I'll explain tons more next week:)

So, if you're struggling in your family with scripture studying, please don't give up. Try again, be consistent and have the faith that your home will be blessed with a greater measure of peace. It might not feel super enriching, but the fact that you're at least trying will be met with help from above. I'm seeing it happen right now. 

One fabulous thought to ponder:

"Sister Maynes and I learned some important principles as we began the process of establishing a Christ-centered home early in our marriage. We started by following the counsel of our Church leaders. We brought our children together and held weekly family home evenings as well as daily prayer and scripture study. It was not always easy, convenient, or successful, but over time these simple gatherings became treasured family traditions.

We learned that our children might not remember everything about the family home evening lesson later in the week, but they would remember that we held it. We learned that later in the day at school they would probably not remember the exact words of the scriptures or the prayer, but they would remember that we did read scriptures and we did have prayer. Brothers and sisters, there is great power and protection for us and our youth in establishing celestial traditions in the home."

Richard J. Maynes

Beauty in the Mountains

I had a wonderful adventure out in the pretty nature of the Pacific Northwest; a cabin retreat with with young women and leaders from church. An overnight in the mountains, next to a beautiful river. How did I get so lucky? 

It was a simple activity of staying in a cabin, eating food, having fun with the girls talking, playing the guitar, singing girls camp songs, eating chocolate, dressing in cute pjs, playing games, spiritual learning, and exploring the nature. It was so much fun, and I'm so grateful that Shaun could watch the kids so I could attend. 

Cutie girls and I were eager to go hiking behind the cabin, discovering a rushing river, and loads of mossy trees. 

Walking down the hill into a mossy and moist forest was a fabulous experience for me. Everywhere I looked, there was beauty. It was like I was in a National Geographic magazine. The scenery was just gorgeous. The sounds of the river rushing along, splashing on rocks, was such music to my ears. I was walking on a carpet of moss and plants, and my feet would sometimes sink down. It was that soft. The trees and branches everywhere were covered with this carpet. Completely different from a desert, but the desert has its own beauty. Its just neat to experience other states and their beauties.

We saw this platform, a tree fort, and had to check it out! 

On the way, I was dazzled by this somewhat meadow of green plants, Trilliium. I stopped and looked down, and at myself surrounded by them. For some reason, I just thought of "Avatar" and the planet at night time, with all the lit up plants. Dork.

We braved climbing up. No doubt, it was built by some adventure seeking boys, to which we were grateful for. What a view. How exhilirating it was to be up high near the trees and see everything. 

I loved seeing the girls being content in nature, carefully stepping through the many cracking branches, and searching in the river for fish. We saw a huge salmon swimming up the river. It looked to be 2-3 feet long. I laughed and admired one girls determination to get in the river and catch it, saying her dad would be so proud, making me think of the influence of a loving parent. Sometimes, I would just sit on a mossy, huge log and watch everything around me, listening to all the sounds. Just loved it.

Highlights from that evening:

• Bringing my guitar and playing. We had a few men leaders come up and stay in the smaller cabin next to us. Some of them picked up the guitar and played. Love seeing others enjoy music. 
• John Denver music was requested. Made my day. We sang 'Country Roads', 'Annie's song', and more. Totally made me remember Mom, and all those driving hours in the van, listening to his music on the tape deck. Mom loved John Denver. 
• Playing "Radioactive' for one of the dear girls, and singing it with her. Such a cool song. 
• Hearing one of the guys play Metallica's 'Enter Sandman', and knowing what song it was within three notes of him playing it. Got way too giddy over hearing that. Again, dork and tomboy.
• Seeing the usual girl sweetness of sitting and playing with each other's hair. 
• Hearing the girls scream over spiders and a dead mouse. 
• A wild hour of girls camp songs, and circle games. Good times. 
• Being totally blown away by one of the guy's amazing card tricks. 
• Finally hitting the bed at midnight, and hearing softly the girls talking and laughing till 1am. 
• Forcing myself to emerge from bed by 7ish, competely tired, but wanting to sit outside by the river and read scriptures. The ultimate gift!

Anyways, it was fabulous:)

Hands Free

For a few months now, I've noticed some great little snippets posted on Facebook from a page called 'The Hands Free Revolution". Good thoughts about letting go of distractions, putting the phone down, and tuning into life and noticing our families better. 

I pulled out my Kindle that had been hiding in my dresser, and started using it more. I love to read, but with kids, there's not much time for reading. I started reading the sample of this great book from Rachel, her Hands Free book. Such a good read. Nothing super huge and earth shattering, but something really good. 

I've noticed that we live in a heavy technology age today. Nearly everyone has a phone that has goodies on it to distract us. When I'm at parks with the kids, I've seen other parents looking at their phones, while their kids play by themselves. I'm totally guilty of it. I remember thinking to myself before I had an Iphone, "I'm never going to be on it all the time looking at stuff while my kids are up." Ha! What a load of crap. I'm totally a victim, getting sucked into checking Pinterest, FB or anything else. I love Pinterest, and I love catching up with friends, and especially reading the homeschool groups on FB, but I must learn to harness it. 

I've wanted to make a change for better with this habit. When I read Rachel's blog post on 'How to Miss a Childhood', that really hit me. Such a good read. Since then, I've wanted to make a conscious effort to do better, to put the phone down more, check it less, and tune it to my family better. I always can tell when my kids start acting up. It's mostly because I'm not spending enough time with them because of the stupid phone, or thinking I need to clean something up, laundry, etc. 

So, I got her e-book, and began to read more. It's a wonderful book. I just wanted to share some tidbits with you.

"Hands Free is not about being perfect; nor is it about being hyperfocused on the people I love. It is simply about making a conscious effort each and every day to connect. 

It is togetherness.

It is communication. 

It is fogiveness.

It is unconditional love. 

The most life changing experiences happen when I stop trying to control and simply let things unfold.

By shutting down your devices periodically each day, you are able to protect your time, strengthen your relationships, and nurture your own health and well being. Giving yourself a chance to notice the details that make life worth living is time well spent."

I encourage you to check out Rachel's Hands Free blog. It's filled with goodness. I think it not only applies to mothers who are missing out on their kids moments, but to all ages, and to all stages in life. Life is just too short, and it keeps flying by. Just had to share:)

A busy week

Sometimes, the blog gets forgotten when a busy week comes along. The sun was out this week. Everything drops for the sun up here:) 

I had the wonderful blessing of  arranging two fun photography shoots with my new photographer friend, Mallory Wilkes, and are young lady friends. First off, I packed up the family and we went location scouting. While the boys explored for bugs and nature stuff, Brooke was my willing model. I asked her to do a cute pose with her hands, and she did it! It blew me away. Girls really love to rock a photo session. She was being so darling. 

Fun things that happened this week:

• A sweet family watched our kids, while Shaun and I went on our first date in 6 months. It was such a treat. We visited the Portland LDS temple, and had some insanely good whole wheat gourmet pizza. Portland is awesome for food. It was such a gift to have a date with my sweetheart.
• I read a great book to the boys, Steven R. Covey's 7 habits of Happy Kids. We read a story about selling lemonade to earn some money. Ethan loved that story, and went straight to work to put up a garage sale outside with some of his toys. He made a sign that said $1 for everything, and sat in a chair, waiting for people to come. Shaun was out there with him, and our kind neighbor came by and bought some things for her grandkids. Angel neighbor. Ethan earned some money, and was delighted. He is so passionate, just like me. He just puts his mind to something, and does it. I think I have a real leader in that boy. Sure lucky to be his Mom, even on the rough days. 
• Kevin continues to love dinosaurs, and has proclaimed himself a T-rex. I have to remind him to not bit me when he says he's trying to eat meat:)
• I had so much fun on the photo shoots with the girls. I just love photographing teenage girls, and helping them to see how beautiful they are. Its a rough world for them today, with so much crap being put on them to be a certain way and such. I just want to help them remember that they are beautiful inside and out. Photographing this week made me fall in love with educating myself about photography, business, marketing, etc. again. My youtube Creative Live playlist became loaded with new videos I found and saved for later. Oh, to have free, solid education available today. Supreme blessing, but I can't study all the time. Balance, balance, balance. 

Tonight, I just look forward to reading books with my kids, and holding them on the couch, if they'll let me. For some reason, the boys go nuts at 6pm, and start chasing each other around the house. It takes me a bit to wind them down, get them to bed, and finally have a break. I love tucking them in, and checking on them later, just to see them sleeping. My favorite:)

General Conference!

When I was much younger, I remember General Conference to be highly boring. Two hour stretches of speakers and music. I hardly got anything out of it, except remembering that my Mom loved it and we watched it every year.

Now, I savor it. Funny how growing up, going through life experiences, trials, serving a mission, having kids, etc. changes you. It is seriously a spiritual feast to me. Yet, with little boys and a ever moving toddler, I rarely get to sit still, listen and record notes in a journal. Ha! No way. Someday, I hope. I do try to have popcorn for us to eat on the opening session, some quiet toys to play with, and I try to get everyone to not breathe and make noise for 20 seconds when the prophet comes on and announces new temples:) I don't expect the boys to listen for long, but the spirit soaks into the home from the conference coming from the TV, and hopefully will touch them.

If you don't know what General Conference is, no worries. Here's a summary:

Even if your not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, you are more than welcome to tune in and watch it. There are messages for you, too:) Check out the many ways to see it HERE. 

Twice a year, leaders of the church speak to us on a variety of topics that they have been inspired to share with us. They spend months praying and listening to the spirit to know what topic to share with us. Humbling process. Many times, the talks have a similar theme, and are in total harmony with each other.

This is our wonderful prophet, Thomas S. Monson. Just as there were prophets in the Bible, there is a prophet today. There are many people today claiming to be a prophet. The difference here is that Thomas was called of God by revelation to be a prophet, not chosen by men. 

President Monson has two buddies, his counselors Henry B. Eyring (on the left) and Dieter F. Uchtdorf. They get to sit in these plushy chairs and smile at everyone. I remember my Mom recalling Uchtdorf as the handsome one. She was so funny.

More speakers. These are the twelve apostles, just like how the Jesus set up his church in the Bible. See their sweet smiles and how friendly looking they are? I love them. I have met Richard G. Scott, David A. Bednar, and L. Tom Perry. Never forgot how I felt around them; a strong, warm, peaceful feeling. Supreme kindness radiating from them.

This is the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, UT. Looks like a space ship to me. The first time I attended a session there, it was an incredible experience.  Growing up, I remember only hearing the Mormon Tabernacle Choir perform on the TV. The first time I heard them sing live here, I thought "Uh, they didn't sound like that on the TV.' Amazing sound. Acoustics. Perfect choir. So moving and powerful.

From this place, it is broadcast all over the world and translated into many languages. Members of the church span the globe, not just in the USA. The growth of the church is amazing.

The conference messages speak of Jesus Christ, how to strengthen our families, how to recognize the spirit in our lives, scripture study, Heavenly Father's love for us, and much more.

It's a beautiful weekend, and I always get a little sad when its the last session on Sunday. Please don't hesitate to tune in, listen to a talk, the beautiful music of the choir, and find peace.

"Let's Try That Again"

Found a pretty spot at a friend's house, and captured some shots of Brooke. Love this so much.

A wonderful lady at church shared her love and wisdom with me in a few, brief moments. She spoke of when her kids sometimes would speak to her in an unkind tone. The usual stuff that I've tried to help my boys do better on. She shared this with me. 

"Whenever we have a moment like that, I say this to them, "Let's try that again". 

It has saved her a lot of contention and brought the peace back. I thought to myself, "Of course", and quickly wrought it down in my church journal. 

Since then, I talked with my family, and we have started trying to say this sweet sentence when our words are unkind. It's been so neat to see the change in the boys and their concious effort to say something nicer. We role played it. When the boys practiced resolving the problem, they just hugged each other and laughed until they fell on the ground in a jumbled mess. So funny. 

I'm so thankful for the nuggets of gold I get from others. Just a simple little lesson in their examples that help me do a little better. Just had to share:)