Organize Yourselves

Today in Sunday School we read one of my favorite scriptures, D&C 109:8

"Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing, and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;"

I love this scripture. I need it ingrained in my head. I need to work harder on making my home a spiritual one. Ryan and I are considering getting rid of cable, because we watch TV entirely too much! I need to organize myself and get my act together in a lot of ways. This scripture is such an inspiration to me today.

Stillness

Once again, I followed a chain of scriptures and discovered some interesting things. This time, I read 1 Nephi 3:7, which is a scripture most people know. But I decided to focus on the word "prepare." After reading the other cross references, the last one was D&C 5:34. "Yea, for this cause I have said: Stop, and stand still until I command thee, and I will provide means whereby thou mayest accomplish the thing which I have commanded thee." The first part of this scripture really struck me! "Stop and stand still until I command thee." I went to read the cross references for stand and came across 1 Samuel 9:27. The last part reads, "stand thou still a while, that I may shew thee the word of God."

In order to know the word of God, we need to stop! Just stop and wait for the Spirit of the Lord to come into our lives and show us what He would have us do. So many times we get caught up in LIFE, that we forget what it's all about! It's not about a spotless house or putting our kids into 5 different classes. It's about learning the word of God and following His commandments. When we stop running around so much, He will lead us to where we need to be.

Endurance

Today, I read 1 Nephi 2:10. I decided to study footnote b: TG Dependability. After reading several of the references, I came to D&C 82:24, which reads: "For even yet the kingdom is yours, and shall be forever, if you fall not from your steadfastness. Even so. Amen."

We always hear people mentioning "endure to the end" as one of those "Sunday School" answers. But it really is the key!! As long as we're trying, "the kingdom is [ours]." That's a wonderful promise!

A Trail of Testimony

This time around, I've decided to read The Book of Mormon a little different - by topic. I still started with 1 Nephi 1:1, but I got "sidetracked" with "therefore I was taught." I spent a good 45 minutes looking up scriptures on parenting yesterday. (That post will come shortly.)

Today, I got as far as 1 Nephi 1:3! That's where I found a trail of testimonies! I challenge each of you to read these verses. Then, go to each verse and read the footnotes for each of their "trues." You'll find an amazing group of testimonies!

"The Best Part of the Lesson"

This is an article from the August Ensign. I've noticed this same thing over and over again and thought this was a great article that everyone should ponder. So, here it is, in its entirety:

"A wise institute teacher once gave me some advice that changed my behavior during Church meetings. His advice addresses a problem that often occurs at the end of gospel lessons or talks in sacrament or other meetings. Frequently, when speakers begin to conclude and bear their testimonies, we prepare to leave by zipping scripture cases, shuffling papers, and packing bags. Sometimes the noise is so loud students can barely hear the teacher. Unfortunately, this noise happens at what is often the most significant part of a lesson or talk: the sharing of testimony! The sound disrupts what can be a powerful spiritual experience for the listeners.

"My institute teacher suggested a simple solution to this problem: sit still. He challenged us to listen attentively until we hear the amen. Even though we are often anxious to get to another class, chat with friends, or even go home to eat, he urged students not to begin packing up books and papers until the class or meeting is over.

"I took this challenge to heart, and the result has been amazing. I feel more spiritually nourished by lessons and talks. I am able to listen to my teachers' conclusions and testimonies rather than concentrate on the next activity. My focus is exactly where it should be. I try to stay alert and attentive until the very end of the lesson, even if everyone is rustling around me. We are commanded to 'endure to the end,' and I believe that this admonition can apply to meetings and lessons as well (see D&C 14:7). This simple challenge to 'sit still' has completely changed the experience I have during sacrament meetings, classes, and even non-Church events. I do not remember the name of my wise institute teacher, but I will never forget his challenge that has allowed me to more fully feast on the gospel of Jesus Christ."

The Book of Mormon

I finished The Book of Mormon once again today. It never ceases to amaze me that I learn SO much each time I read it! There's always a new concern or question in my life that it answers or clarifies. I've also noticed that I've been much more mellow in the last few months. I've always read my scriptures every day, but I think this time was a little bit different. I tried really hard to focus on what I was reading. If my mind wandered, I went back and started over! I don't know if that ever happens to you while you're reading your scriptures, but I find my mind wandering quite often! But whenever I realized it, I stopped reading and started over again.

Another difference was that I chose to read in the middle of the day, in the same room (for the most part) as my children. They've seen me reading, and sometimes they'd climb up on my lap and ask me to read out loud. It's such a joy to teach love for the scriptures to my children. They're young enough right now that this is pretty much their first experience with the scriptures.

I'd also like to thank my sister and her family for their consistence in reading as a family every single night. My family has always struggled with this, but seeing their example has given me courage to really focus on this when we get home from our vacation. Family scripture study was always a little stressful for me, because my kids would get bored or be loud or... etc. etc. etc. But it doesn't matter how much we read each night - just that we read! Even if that means 2 verses right now, at least we'll be forming the habit of reading every day!

I'd love to see posts from any others that took this 3-month challenge!!!

Answer to a Prayer

Today I was reading in Moroni 7 and received an answer to a very important prayer I've had lately.

Lately, I've been thinking about how to homeschool. I decided to homeschool in January, but since my oldest is only 4 and a half, I haven't really worried about how to do it. We've just been getting into a regular schedule... But lately, I've been learning about a specific method, and I've been wondering whether or not it's the best idea for our family. I was really struggling with this. I prayed a lot; I fasted.

Then today, I read Moroni 7:16: "For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God."

It was the answer I've been waiting for! I thought about this specific method, and realized that, YES!, it "inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ..."!! I was so relieved to get such a straightforward answer! (Usually, my answers are a little more hazy.) I looked through the principles of this method of homeschooling and realized that everything in it would coincide perfectly with the Gospel and with what I found to be important.

I'm so grateful that we have the scriptures! Today was definitely an example of that quote: "If you want to talk to God, pray. If you want God to talk to you, read the scriptures."

The Desires of MY Heart

May I begin with a plea? I would love to see more posts! What did you learn while studying the scriptures this week? Perhaps your two-year-old reinforced a gospel principle that we all could benefit from? Did you learn something as you prepared a lesson for Sunday? What's been on your mind lately that has caused you to ponder some aspect of the gospel? Share, share. :)

The desires of my heart...the desires of my heart...the desires of my heart. I have thought about these words repeatedly. Today, I plugged them into a scripture search. There are a lot of scriptures that include the words desire and heart. Not all of the desires mentioned are righteous ones.

For example, Mosiah 11:2 "For behold, he did not keep the commandments of God, but he did walk after the desires of his own heart..."

Then you have those that have a change in desires, such as, Alma 19:33, "that their hearts had been changed; that they had no more desire to do evil."

There are those that have seemingly unusual desires as is found in D&C 62:7

Certainly there are many throughout the scriptures that have righteous desires. What makes it so? I found a couple of scriptures that to me indicate how we can make sure we are having righteous desires. Not surprisingly, it happens when we are focused on the Lord.

Psalms 37:4 says, "Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." It looks to me like this scripture is telling me that when I am delighting in the Lord, He will give me the desires that my heart should have. Almost like the concept of praying to know what to pray for. It seems kind of a silly statement at first, but if we have the Lord first and foremost in our hearts, He will guide us to what our desires should be. And, of course, the scripture seems to also indicate that we will be able to have what it is that we desire. If we had no hope of obtaining our desire, the desire would be fruitless and discouraging. See Proverbs 13:12

Then, in D&C 6:20, we read, "Be faithful and diligent in keeping the commandments of God, and I will encircle thee in the arms of my love." That is how we keep having righteous desires. It becomes not so much the desires of MY heart, as it is the deep desires of my heart through following the Lord. Partnering our own desires with His yields the true desires we have within us.