But I'm Not Thirsty

This past week I found a unique teaching moment during Sacrament Meeting.  Sophia had found a sippee cup of water in the diaper bag early in the meeting and had been quenching her thirst with its contents.  I had her put it away as the sacrament started.  When the water was passed as part of the sacrament she whispered to me, "I don't need any.  I already had a drink and I'm not thirsty." 

 

I quietly whispered that she should still drink the water.  She did and the tray was passed down our row.  I then quietly talked to her about the sacrament, about what it represented, and helped her understand that the water was more than a "drink" after the bread.  Emily whispered a few words of wisdom to her as well. 

 

I love little chances like this to teach my children gospel truth.  I have learned that you can't put them off, thinking you might remember to talk to the child at a later time.  There is no better time than right then and there.

 

In an April 1991 General Conference address entitled, Teach the Children, Elder M. Russell Ballard quoted an anonymous author:

 

I saw tomorrow passing on little children’s feet
And on their forms and faces her prophecies complete.
And then I saw tomorrow look at me through little children’s eyes.
And I thought how carefully I must teach if I am wise!

 

He then said,

 

"My dear brothers and sisters, if we are concerned about our tomorrows, we will teach our children wisely and carefully, for in them lie our tomorrows."

What do a spider and chicken broth have in common?

One of our favorite easy dinners is roast chicken.  Once thawed, put in a pan and seasoned, it just cooks itself.  Add a couple of side dishes like salad, steamed veggies, baked potatoes, oven fries, and dinner is done.  And when the meal is over I like to freeze the carcass in a plastic bag.  When I have time I take out whatever bones have amassed in the freezer and make broth in my big stock pot.  I like to get every bit of use out of my food dollars, and homemade broth is so nutritious and good.  And you can easily pull off enough meat to add back with vegetables and make a nice soup. 

I knew I had some bones in the freezer so I planned chicken soup into our week.  Yesterday I made the broth so that today's supper would be simple.  I pulled it out of the fridge, added celery, carrots, herbs and wild rice along with the reserved chicken, and set it on the stove to simmer.  Meanwhile, I set about freezing the excess broth that I didn't need tonight, for another day.  I have a box full of old jars and containers in the basement just for times like this.  Old hummus containers are perfect for broth and I also found an old plastic mayonnaise bottle to use.  I washed up the containers, filled them, and was just ready to stick them in the freezer……..when I noticed…….

On the lid of the old mayonnaise jar was some writing.  This is not uncommon in our house.  We often reuse the same freezer containers multiple times for different things.  I label the containers with a sharpie so I don't forget what they are when they are found in the depths of my freezer down the road.  Often when reusing a container I just scribble out the old contents and date, and add the new one.  I figured I would do the same thing today.  But this time the container didn't say something like….Apple Butter, September 2015, or Minestrone, January 2016. 

It said simply, "Nick the Spider."

I guess the former contents of this particular container had not been edible.  I called to Emily who was in the house at the time.  I showed her the lid…and she actually remembered Nick the Spider.  She remembered that he was quite large.  "I think he was a wolf spider."  Then she remembered that he had babies on his back.  Hmmmmm.  Maybe Nick the Spider should have been named "Nicole the Spider."  The kids often catch little critters and keep them for a day or two as "pets."  My jar, now holding my chicken broth, had once been home to one of these temporary pets. 

  
Did I empty out the contents?  Nah.  I had washed out the jar.  I took a quick picture for posterity and put all my chicken broth into the freezer.

The Sabbath Centers Us on the Wheel

One of my favorite talks in this last General Conference (October 2015) was by Elder Richard J Maynes of the presidency of the Seventy.  He spoke about pottery and about how when the clay is not centered on the pottery wheel, it is impossible to properly form a pot .  He then compared it to our lives.  When we do not put Christ at the center of our lives, nothing will ever go quite right.  Things will be off balance, and not be as beautiful as they could be.  Elder Maynes said,

"The world in which we live is putting great pressure on good people everywhere to lower or even abandon their standards of righteous living. However, despite the evils and temptations that surround us each day, we can and will find true joy today in living a Christ-centered life. Centering our lives in Jesus Christ and His gospel will bring stability and happiness to our lives…"

He also said,

"If our lives are centered in Jesus Christ, He can successfully mold us into who we need to be in order to return to His and Heavenly Father’s presence in the celestial kingdom. The joy we experience in this life will be in direct proportion to how well our lives are centered on the teachings, example, and atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ."

I believe that keeping the Sabbath Day Holy is a great way to keep Christ at the center of our lives.  Think about it.  1 Day in 7 we can commit ourselves to spending in ways that are pleasing to the Lord.  When we ask ourselves Russell M. Nelson's question of ,"What sign do I want to give to God?" we are focusing on Christ and keeping him at the center of our day and of our week to come and in doing so we will be blessed with that stability and happiness that we need….and eternal blessings after this life.

When a family has parents who are strong in the gospel, who are committed to keeping the commandments, they will have children whom they teach and nurture who grow up to be strong in the gospel.  Those children will be sealed to spouses in the temple and have children whom they teach and nurture who grow up to be strong in the gospel…and the cycle continues…hopefully with each succeeding generation becoming stronger.  And keeping the Sabbath day holy is one of the keys to having this happen in each of our families.

 As mothers we have many things to do that take up much of our days every single day, and many of those things don't go away just because it is Sunday.  People need to eat, diapers need to be changed, children will still get sick or hurt. But I am a firm believer in little things.  I believe that little things add up to become great big awesome wonderful things.  The little things we slip into our Sabbath to keep it more holy will have an influence on our own lives as well as those of our children. Week after week, year after year, making concerted efforts to keep the Sabbath in a way that would please Heavenly Father, will make a difference. And the blessings promised in D&C 59 will be ours:

D&C 59:9-20
9 And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day;
10 For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High;
11 Nevertheless thy vows shall be offered up in righteousness on all days and at all times;
12 But remember that on this, the Lord’s day, thou shalt offer thine oblations and thy sacraments unto the Most High, confessing thy sins unto thy brethren, and before the Lord.
 13 And on this day thou shalt do none other thing, only let thy food be prepared with singleness of heart that thyfasting may be perfect, or, in other words, that thy joy may be full.
 14 Verily, this is fasting and prayer, or in other words, rejoicing and prayer.
 15 And inasmuch as ye do these things with thanksgiving, with cheerful hearts and countenances, not with muchlaughter, for this is sin, but with a glad heart and a cheerful countenance—
 16 Verily I say, that inasmuch as ye do this, the fulness of the earth is yours

I  bear testimony that keeping the Sabbath Day holy will bring us peace
Peace in our hearts, peace in our marriages, peace with our children and peace in our homes. 

More Blessings of the Sabbath

While we are blessed for attending our meetings on Sunday, there are also blessings awaiting us when we keep the rest of the Sabbath day holy as well.  Last month Elder Nelson addressed the young adults of the church in a fireside.  Here is one of the things he told them.  

"Spend more time on your knees in prayer, more time in the scriptures, more time in family history work, more time in the temple. I promise you that as you consistently give the Lord a generous portion of your time, He will multiply the remainder." (Becoming True Millennials, January 10, 2016)

While he was not specifically referring to the Sabbath I believe that the promise is the same.  As we make time in our Sundays to do those activities which will please the Lord, he blesses us exponentially.  He is such a generous Heavenly Father.  He just wants to see us trying, doing a little more than we have done before, and he will bless us so much. 

In his April 2015 conference talk Elder Nelson reminded us of our responsibilities as parents to teach our children the gospel.

Quite a number of years ago, the First Presidency said,

“We call upon parents to devote their best efforts to the teaching and rearing of their children in gospel principles which will keep them close to the Church. The home is the basis of a righteous life, and no other instrumentality can take its place or fulfill its essential functions in carrying forward this God-given responsibility.

We counsel parents and children to give highest priority to family prayer, family home evening, gospel study and instruction, and wholesome family activities. However worthy and appropriate other demands or activities may be, they must not be permitted to displace the divinely-appointed duties that only parents and families can adequately perform.”

Elder Nelson pointed out that both we and our children are blessed when we use the Sabbath to fulfil this charge. In fact he got so excited about the possibilities available to us in this day and age to teach our children the gospel in our homes that he said,

"When I ponder this counsel, I almost wish I were a young father once again. Now parents have such wonderful resources available to help them make family time more meaningful, on the Sabbath and other days as well. They have LDS.org, Mormon.org, the Biblevideos, the Mormon Channel, the Media Library, theFriend, the New Era, the Ensign, the Liahona, and more—much more. These resources are so very helpful to parents in discharging their sacred duty to teach their children. No other work transcends that of righteous, intentional parenting!"

 We can teach our children the gospel every day of course, but what a blessing it is to have one day a week where many other things can be put aside giving us time to teach our children the gospel. We don't have jobs to go to, yard work to attend to, laundry to wash and fold, activities to drive to, school to attend.  We are blessed with 1 day in 7 which we can spend focussing on the gospel, studying it for ourselves, or instructing our children.   We can share scriptures and family history stories with them. We can look for opportunities to serve.  Baking cookies and taking them to a neighbor is something that children of all ages enjoy.  We can visit someone who is sick or lonely.  We can help our children write thankyou notes to their primary teachers.   We can work on the different awards that our children have been asked to pursue - Faith in God, Duty to God, Personal Progress. These programs are very simple to do.  Just open up their booklet and choose a requirement …  Often it asks them to read some scriptures and discuss them with their parents. How easy is that?  And you will both learn something and have quality time with each other.   We can work on family history with our kids.

We like to talk around the lunch or dinner table about what we have learned in our classes that day.  It’s a great time to help kids see how what they have learned applies to their lives.  It also helps them to pay attention at church because they know that their Dad is going to ask them what they learned.

As we instruct our children, we are benefitting as well.  Whenever we tell our children a scripture story or explain a gospel principle it becomes more engraved in our own heart and mind, ready to give us a reminder or strength when we need it.   Whenever we teach someone the gospel we learn ourselves as well.  This is a blessing.  And when we teach the gospel to our children we bless their lives as well.  We help strengthen their testimonies of the Savior and his teachings.  This blesses them throughout the week as they experience temptations and difficult situations. 

More Than Just Being on Time for Church

Last year in April General Conference Russell M. Nelson gave a talk on the Sabbath that we have heard quoted from over and over again as we have been taught in lessons and sacrament meetings of the importance of keeping the Sabbath day holy. (April 2015 The Sabbath is a Delight)  Not too long after that conference a letter was read over the pulpit in our sacrament meeting stating  that we would soon be changing our meeting schedule so that sacrament meeting would be first, followed by our other classes.  One of the reasons given for this change was to improve reverence in sacrament meeting and to set a tone for the rest of the meetings that day. 

I remember hearing that and cheering inside, because I knew that it would be easier to keep my little ones happy in sacrament meeting when it was no longer at the end of the 3 hour block.  Then I had a realization.  It was going to be really really hard for me to be on time for sacrament meeting.  And because of my calling, (ward organist), it would be rather noticeable if I walked in late.  As it was, with 9:00 church and Relief Society first I quite often did not make it there early enough to play the opening song, let alone prelude music.  Sometimes I would walk in, feeling terrible, as everyone was already singing the opening song.  The Relief Society President was always so kind and understanding, but I always felt bad when I didn't make it.
 
And then our wonderful bishop issued a request of the ward. With the change in sacrament meeting time, he asked us to be there 10 minutes before the sacrament meeting even started, so that we could listen to the prelude music and prepare ourselves to take the sacrament.  How was I ever going to do it?  That meant having 6 children and myself ready to walk out the door for church by about 8:30am.

I came home that day and thought about things and a line from Elder Nelson's General Conference talk kept coming to my mind.  He said that as he went about his Sabbath, making choices on how to spend his time, he would always ask himself this question, "What Sign do I want to give to God?"

I decided right then that I wanted to make some changes to my Sabbath morning that would show my Heavenly Father first of all that I sustain my bishop and will always make every effort to do as he asks, but most importantly, I wanted to show Heavenly Father that I love him and want to do all I can to reverence his day, and make my Sunday meetings and partaking of the sacrament a more meaningful and spiritual experience for myself and my family. 

I began to prepare better on Saturday for the upcoming Sabbath.  I packed the diaper bag with snacks and activities, made sure all the Sunday clothes were clean, and most important….that we knew where all the Sunday clothes and shoes were.  I put a greater emphasis into getting the children to bed on time on Saturday night so that they would have an easier time waking up in the morning.  I also started going to sleep earlier myself on Saturday night.  We would leave family parties a little earlier when they happened on Saturday night as well.  I began to get up much earlier than I had in the past and get myself completely ready, fix a quick breakfast, then wake the kids so that they could start getting ready.

If we left the house by 8:40 we could be walking into the chapel at 8:50, sit down and be there for the prelude music.  We were able to keep this up right until the end of December when our time for church changed to 11am.  Needless to say, Sunday mornings have been much easier for me these last couple of weeks since the time changed.  We even are able to make time for family scriptures before church.

But, being on time for church is not the only blessing that came from my efforts.  After a number of weeks of the new schedule, and my renewed efforts to prepare for Sunday morning and be on time, I began noticing a difference in how I personally felt at church.  I was feeling the Spirit more.  I was learning more.  The talks seemed to be more for me.  I was experiencing more personal revelation as I sat in lessons.  I was feeling happier.  The spirit that I felt beginning right there at the beginning of sacrament meeting with the prelude music, and then the sacrament and the talks, was carrying into my other meetings.  That spirit was carrying into the rest of my day.  I  bear testimony that I know that preparing well for the Sabbath brings with it more blessings than just being on time for church.
 

My Sabbath

Today I spoke in sacrament meeting on the blessings of keeping the Sabbath day holy.  When the bishop asked me to speak a couple of weeks ago, that made me really pause and reflect on what the Sabbath is like in my home.  The Sunday following, I decided to write down my day. 
 
Here it is:
 
7:30am  Wake up.  Go downstairs and cut up veggies to add to the stew in the crockpot. 
After 15 minutes or so David and Sophia join me in the kitchen.  They peel carrots and make a great big mess with the peels, but are content to eat carrots while I finish up.  Then,  I fix breakfast for the little ones and leave them eating while I run up to take a shower.  While I am doing makeup and hair and trying to get dressed I hear David hollering and someone hands me a lip balm through the door.  He has pretty much eaten the whole thing.  For the next hour or so, big kids get up and we all finish eating and getting ready for church. I finish gathering things I need to teach a Primary lesson.  Clothes had been found the night before  so no surprises with missing shoes today.  Jerry comes home from his meetings and we have family scriptures and prayers so Nathan can leave early to help set up chairs at the church.  Thank you Brother M... for always picking him up.  It makes for one less thing for me to fit in on Sunday morning.

 

Time to leave for church.  Once there and settled in our bench, I take a deep breath and just listen.  Thanks to Brother P..., I just sit and listen to the prelude…and breathe.  I feel calm and peaceful.  Nobody had to go to the bathroom the second we stepped into the church building which often seems to happen.  I just sit there enjoying the music. 

 

We sing, we partake of the sacrament, we listen to the talks,  Our bench sometimes feels like a zoo.  I sit on a bunch of puzzle pieces when I come down from the stand after the sacrament song.  I just close my eyes and fold my arms ignoring the little whispers of  "Mom…you are sitting on my puzzle."  I will gather the pieces after the prayer.  We do all we can to keep our little ones happy and quiet.  We take at least two trips to the restroom that I can remember.  I'm so grateful to Jerry for being so quick to help with little ones in church.   We attend our classes. I substitute in Primary and have a great time.   After church our family crowds into the bishops office for Jacob to be set apart in a new Priesthood responsibility…priests quorum secretary. He heads out to do sacrament for the homebound.  The other kids and I head home after that. 

 

Time for food again.  David and Sophia need to eat as soon as we get home from church.  At least the older kids can wait until later when we have a family meal.  I get the little ones some leftover soup and cut up some cucumbers.  Sophia immediately spills soup on her skirt. We quickly take it off and clean it out under the tap so that it won't stain.  That reminds me to change David out of his white shirt and put on his "after church" shirt, so that he doesn't do the same.  Then I hear Sophia again…."ahhh Mom, it's on my shirt."  More soup on the clothes.  We now change the shirt and rinse that out too.  And did I mention the dirty diaper that happened somewhere in there?

 

Tummies full, Sophia and David are playing happily together, so I mix up biscuits to go with the stew.  Take a break for a few minutes to help the girls get on the computer to write emails to their brother, Benjamin on his mission.  Jerry and Jacob are not home yet so the girls and I make some cookies. 

 

It is now 4:00 and everyone is finally home.  We eat a wonderful filling meal together.  We talk about church.  We especially like the high councilman's talk.  He told some great stories.  The boys have a stake youth choir practice and Jerry has a meeting for the stake youth trek.  Then there is a youth fireside that night. Sophia fixes up a plate of cookies and takes them to the neighbors.  I have a fairly quiet evening at home reading stories to my kids, dressing baby dolls, building a train track, talking to my parents on the phone, and settling kids in bed. 

 

Little ones in bed, Jerry and the older kids come home from the fireside.  Everyone was hungry again, so while we all ate snacks we talked. We laughed a lot but we also talked about serious things.  We talked about missionary service, we talked about how the Lord blesses those who put a full time mission first. We talked about faith and putting the Lord first in your life.   We talked about funny things the kids heard at the fireside.  It was great.  Several times we said, we should just go up and go to bed.  But we didn't.  We just kept talking.  We were enjoying ourselves. 

 

When we finally went upstairs, Olivia to her room, the boys to theirs, I settled down on my bed and got out my scriptures and my phone so I could look up some things for this talk.  Then one of our big boys came in to our room.  He had some personal things he needed to talk about. When you live in a big family you sometimes have to wait until later in the evening to get Mom and Dad to yourself to talk about your concerns.  We try to make ourselves available for that as often as we can.  As we talked we heard strange noises coming from the girls room.  Emily came bursting in.  A cold had hit her very fast and she was gagging on mucous.  We got her into the bathroom, grabbed a bowl to catch the "you know what", cleaned her up, got some medicine, set up a makeshift bed out of blankets on our bedroom floor, and waited for her to settle down.  She fell asleep, we finished up with the other 'concerned' child. 

 

Totally exhausted, Jerry and I lay back on our pillows and talked.  We mostly talked about my upcoming talk.  I read some things on LDS.org about the Sabbath and reread some talks and scriptures.  Jerry and I talked about what the Sabbath is like for Moms, especially Moms of little children. 

 

The scriptures say that the Sabbath is a day of rest.…. not always for Moms. But that is ok.  Because the Sabbath is not my day; it is the Lord's day.  Is the Sabbath a blessing in my life?  Yes it is!!  I have a testimony that when we keep the Sabbath Day holy we come closer to Christ.  We can feel and understand the influence of the spirit more in our lives.  We are strengthened to be able to bear trials and temptations that come upon us throughout the week.  As we strive to help our children keep the Sabbath Day holy we help them to develop vital testimonies of the Lord Jesus Christ.  We help them to be able to have the influence of the Holy Ghost more in their lives.  As we send our children out to their activities and school throughout the week, they need the strength and direction that they get from keeping the Sabbath Day Holy, as they face daily decisions and difficult situations.

 

Yes!!!  The Sabbath is a great blessing.

 

Notes Near My Ceiling

Today I had a bit of a spring cleaning bug.  Not that spring is very close at all, but I have hated the filth on the tops of my kitchen cupboards for too long.  Today I decided to do away with it.  In all honesty, its been years since I've cleaned up there.  I so wish that I had taken before and after pictures, because what I found up there was both disgusting and hilarious. 

The dirt and greasy grime had combined up there to make a thick coating on the tops of the cupboards.  Apparently, my children, who are constantly standing up on my cupboards to get things off high shelves, discovered this grime long before I did.  What I found up there, besides the filth, was surprising.  The kids have been using their fingers to write in the grime.  Sometimes just their names,  sometimes an exclamation, and sometimes they were using the dirt to write little notes to each other.  Who knows how old some of these notes are.

Here are just a few of the scribblings I found on top of the cupboards:

"Hi Benj"

"Disgusting"

"Meet in basement"

"BYU Rocks"

….along with quite a few "signatures"

It took a lot of cleaner and scrubbing to get it all off, but I had a smile on my face while I did it, just thinking of my silly kids.