Make the Exercise of Faith Your First Priority- Richard G. Scott

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/make-the-exercise-of-faith-your-first-priority?lang=eng#watch=video


I began this journey with a hope of doing better by my own testimony. However, any mother can tell you that if she is not doing all the nuances of her discipleship, it is likely she is failing in her stewardship of her children. I carry a lot of mom guilt. It isn't just the natural feelings of not doing enough, that all mothers carry. I'm actually a pretty lazy person and my mom guilt is totally deserved. My kids wear their everyday clothes to bed because I know if they wear pajamas every night, my laundry load doubles. Are you understanding my motherhood yet?

Relief Society yesterday was, of course, on the Sacred Calling of Mothers. I love the way these things are worded. We get "The Sacred Calling of Mothers" and the men get "Father, Consider Your Ways." Moms are put on such a pedestal for all we do, but sometimes, I think we need the hash wording reserved for fathers. Maybe that is just me. Maybe there should be a lesson titled, "Christina, Consider Your Ways!" Exclamation point.

This lesson, by Ezra Taft Benson outlines 10 things mothers (and fathers) need to be doing. Ten specific ways I am failing. Man, I love church some days. So, when considering what talk I wanted to read this morning, I focused on one particular failure of mine: Family Home Evening. It's not that we don't ever have FHE, but our batting average is around .100. So, I went to lds.org and searched for conference talks on Family Home Evening. This talk by Richard G. Scott was the most recent one that came up, so he's my winner.



   I knew from the title of this talk that it was going to be a little bit more stern, I like that. I need some sternness in my life. He starts by talking about the Fall of Adam and Eve and how opposition in all things came to be and how it is necessary for our happiness. While interesting, I had no idea how this applied to the principle I was trying to study and I'll be honest, my eyes glazed over a bit. He talked about challenges and how life is hard. We came to be tested and made strong. We know these things. We've heard them since primary. I guess repetition is good for the soul. He brought me back by saying "Our Father in Heaven has given us tools to help us come unto Christ and exercise faith in His Atonement. When these tools become fundamental habits, they provide the easiest way to find peace in the challenges of mortality."

   Okay, so now I see the tie in. We are going to talk about exercising faith as a way to meet the challenges we will face.

   He outlines four essentials. While Sunday School-ish in simplicity, the reminder is that these things are there for our use. They are there to help us overcome. Not as another thing our Heavenly Father counts to make sure we are good disciples, but tools that helps us survive mortality.

Prayer: I had two favorite lines from the part on Prayer. "Parents, help safeguard your children by arming them morning and night with the power of family prayer." I am not great at this. I pray by myself, on my knees, at night. And sometimes we pray together. A few times a week. Not enough. And "Family prayer should be a nonnegotiable priority in your daily life." Boom. Sternness. Richard G. should drop the mike.

Scripture Study: He connects scripture study to prayer by saying (paraphrasing) that we speak to God in prayer, He speaks back through scriptures. It is important to read scriptures with our children so they can understand that voice of God. Wow, right? I don't think I've heard a reason for scripture reading put so succinctly. It makes me understand why it is so important.

Family Home Evening: Don't make it an afterthought. Have a grand time together. Nothing new. No mike drops.

Temple Attendance: Last year Kyle and I went 12 times in 12 months. We were so proud of meeting our once a month goal. Perhaps we felt it was exhausting, or just that one year was good enough. in 2015 we didn't get to the temple until July. Yikes and Shame! In a talk about exercising your faith to feel peace, this one stands out. Where do you feel more peace than at the temple? Elder Scott says that by doing these four things we are accepting Christ's invitation to come unto Him, and isn't He after all the Prince of Peace?

   I am going to try a lot harder to do all of these things. I have plenty of time in the day and really all of these things should be nonnegotiable. I'm going to fail. I know because I've tried before. And I'll try again.

   I can't close better than he did. "I testify that as we actively come unto Him, we can endure every temptation, every heartache, every challenge we face, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

Something New

    Summer is an interesting time for my family. We are able to spend so much extra time together. We travel, we do fun activities, we laugh together. However, I found this summer to be difficult for me. We spent 6 Sundays away from church for various reason. They were all legitimate reasons, we weren't just sleeping at home, but 6 weeks is a rather long absence.

   I was shocked to feel the influence of this departure from church. I've always assumed I'd kind of made it. Not that I'm celestial bound just yet, but that I was doing fine and didn't really need the weekly fortification. This was also about the time we stopped reading the scriptures together every night. We had just become "too busy". Slowly, I began to lose some of my steadfastness. I'm not admitting to any bad behavior, more of a lazy, nonchalant feeling about that gospel and about choosing the right.

   There have been times in my life where I was able to quote scripture and conference talks to lift friends from their hard places. I'm not at the other end of that. I'm not spiraling toward defection or inactivity, but I'm not as strong as I know I can be or as strong as I have been.

   I had an idea yesterday in church. I like to think it was inspiration, but I sometimes have a hard time deciphering my voice from that of the Spirit. It is a talent I am still working to develop. I am going to read a church talk every morning and record my thoughts about it. I can't imagine anyone is out there reading. If you are, welcome! If not, well, someday maybe my kids will wonder what their mom's testimony looked like. Maybe they will find that they are not in a place of major strength and be able to see some value in studying everyday. Or maybe they will just need ideas for a talk and steal something from me. 

   I am pretty excited about starting this. I already have my first talk picked out and everything. Don't hold me to everyday, because life, but I will try my best.

Diamonds and Things

Ten years ago I made the best decision of my life. I married Kyle. Honestly, I didn't even know how good of a choice it was back then. He has surprised me with how amazing he is. He's my love, my partner, my best friend. He is everything to me. Building our lives together has been the coolest thing I could imagine. He's the ying to my yang, the jelly to my peanut butter, the cream to my oreo. I'm so lucky to have him and can't wait to see what the next ten years hold!

Scripture Reading

Wanna know something cool? We've read our scriptures as a family every day for two and a half weeks! Is that a huge accomplishment? Probably not to some, but to us, yes! We just started reading as a family. We have a great system in place that is really keeping us and the kids motivated. After reading for one whole week we had ice cream sandwiches.Then we moved the time line to two weeks. Our next special treat is coming up on Monday. We will be buying happy meals, something we never ever do. Our kids are very excited about that. I don't know what we will get once we have read for three whole weeks, but four weeks is going to be us seeing Avengers: Age of Ultron! I am very excited about that.
It has been tough. There are times when Kyle isn't home till late and there are times when I am in a terrible, terrible mood! But I am so proud of us and our kids. They are really doing a great job. Especially Adam, he understands and pays so much attention. He's awesome. Caleb gets frustrated. He's trying, but he just doesn't understand the language yet.
Anyway, I will update to say how it's going. I have neglected this blog and that's too bad. I enjoy looking back at it and remembering things that otherwise would have been lost. I will try to do better. We shall see.

Dear inventor of Halloween?

Were you a chubby chaser?
Sincerely,
My pants no longer fit.

A Poison Tree

I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.

And I watered it in fears,
Night and morning with my tears;
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.

And it grew both day and night,
Till it bore an apple bright.
And my foe beheld it shine.
And he knew that it was mine,

And into my garden stole
When the night had veiled the pole;
In the morning glad I see
My foe outstretched beneath the tree

William Blake

"Your son saved Sacrament meeting"

Every member of the church knows that sometimes testimony meetings go awry. Sometimes you get thank-imonies, story-monies, and please-help-me-monies. We had a few testimonies today that lost their track and veered to the over sharing side. We heard about someone "shacking up", and someone's cereal, and about someone's mother-in-law. 

About a month ago, Caleb asked if he could bear his testimony at church. We spent the month's family home evenings teaching him the proper things to say and the proper way to say them. Today he went up and bore his testimony. He has a very simple, beautiful testimony. He knew the points he wanted to make and was very clear about his beliefs.

After church the first counselor in our bishopric told me "Your son saved sacrament meeting. He fixed what had been done before him."

What a sweet thing to say. It made me so grateful for simple testimonies of children.