Now that my children are grown and married and have children of their own, I find myself looking back on family life with new eyes. For example, what I see now is that family scripture study was a metaphor for life. Most the time the kids weren’t paying much attention. They went through the motions, but their minds were elsewhere. Since we had family scripture study first thing in the morning, elsewhere was usually asleep. But somehow, someway some things communicated. Questions came up more often than answers and everyone complained but afterward recognized that it really was good and they were glad they did it.
There were mornings I was ready to give up, but I’m now glad I didn’t. We managed to read the Book of Mormon seven times, the New Testament once and part of the Doctrine and Covenants. It is like Elder Bednar said last conference about consistency. Most days scripture study was chaos but the cumulative effect was surprisingly peace and rest. I guess that is one of the miracles of the gospel and to me it is equivalent to the miracle of the parting of the Red Sea. I don’t know how chaos created peace, but it did.
I think maybe that is how I’ll feel about life once it is over.
What a wonderful post for me and my family. I feel this way every morning when the kids are complaining or sleepwalking down the stairs for scripture study. I remember doing the same thing as a child to my parents and I know I hated it but now I look back with fond memories because my parents tried so hard :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for your wonderful blog and daily inspirations!