Author Archives: S.D. Sorensen

Confession and Resolution: Scriptures

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(For the record, my family scripture study has never looked like this picture … too much smiling, too few injuries … but it’s a cute picture anyway.  A happy piece of fiction to strive for.)

My readers are geniuses.  Obviously.  So I love it when I vent, and you come back with two really really important things:  empathy and ideas.  I’ve noticed that Annie and I are alike in one thing in particular.  When we’re not happy with the way something is going, we both come up with big plans/programs/routines/systems/control-freak-type-mind-control-over-our-children-or-marriage-or-weight (or whatever the issue at hand is) efforts.  So her comment on my boo-hoo post about post-holiday detox knocked me back into my real self again:

“Thankfully, they do make Christmas rehab. It’s called New Year’s Resolutions.”

Of course.  That’s what I do.  I’ve got to break down our “issues” one by one and make plans to remedy them.  First up to bat:  Scriptures.  Over the holiday season, our scripture study fell through the cracks.  I realize this is ridiculously ironic since Christmas time is, you know, all scripturey and stuff.  We did lots of random nativity-related verses and studying, but we lost the routine, the habit…  and frankly, as it’s obvious now, we lost the blessings.

So, tonight for family home evening, we’re going to revisit the importance of scripture study and decide as a family how to best tackle this needed element of our family routine.  I have to come to a discussion like this with a few ideas already in place or we’ll end up discussing ad nauseum things like, “can we have refreshments every time we read scriptures?” and “When are we having another family movie night?” or “Did I tell you that I scored all the points at basketball practice last week?.”  Since a family changes as children grow, I’m thinking that our scripture study needs to be constantly adapting to meet reading levels, individual children’s needs, etc.  My proposal will be this:  We’re going to do scripture study as a family divided.  That may sound counter-intuitive, but I think it will work.  At bedtime, Either Matt or I will go with Grant (who just turned 8 and will be baptised very soon) and let him read one page out of the Book of Mormon.  We’ll discuss for clarity.  The other will go with Clark and Natalie, and Clark can read to Natalie out of the illustrated Scripture Stories.  (Really, if you have preschoolers or early readers and don’t have these, you NEED them.)  Then we can articulate the main message/lesson from the story we read and bear testimony of those principles.  And we are going to do it EVERY. NIGHT. (Within reason.  Sometimes they fall asleep in the car or one of us has an evening commitment, but I want these exceptions to be RARE.)

Anyway.  Here are the quotes I found to talk about tonight:

One of the best ways to draw near unto Him and to both learn about and become more like the Lord Jesus Christ is to consistently study the holy scriptures—to daily “feast upon the words of Christ” (2 Ne. 32:3).     –Elder David A. Bednar

We encourage everyone to make careful study of the scriptures … and to prayerfully seek personal revelation to know their meaning for themselves.  – Elder Dallin H. Oaks

I promise you … that if you will study the scriptures diligently, your power to avoid temptation and to receive direction of the Holy Ghost in all you do will be increased.  — President Thomas S. Monson

There are powerful moments of communication through regular family prayer and through family scripture study. The scriptures will help define family values and goals, and talking together about them will assist family members to learn to become individually secure, spiritually strong, and self-reliant.  – Elder M. Russell Ballard

I printed them out and cut them out and we’ll read them, and hang them up on the wall next to this picture as a reminder of our commitment to our new goals.

And also?  Ahem. I’ve decided that I, personally, am going to take up Jocelyn on her challenge and read 5 pages of the Book of Mormon a day.  Starting today.  According to her calculations, this means I will finish it by Easter.  I need to do it.  Anyone want to join us?

I’m sure many of you have your own ideas of what/how/when to do scripture study.  Feel free to share them in the comments below because it’s always helpful to get new ideas.

GCBC Week 16: The Holy Ghost–Receiving Revelation

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This week we are studying two really great talks. Elder Jensen and Elder Bednar both spoke about the Holy Ghost and I thought it might be really insightful to study them together.

The Holy Ghost and Revelation
Elder Jay E. Jensen
Of the Presidency of the Seventy

Receive the Holy Ghost
David A. Bednar
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

How about you? What are your favorite moments or quotes from these talks?  Is there anything you learned here that you had not considered before?  What stood out to you as you studied it?  And, most importantly, what did it make you feel or want to do?

Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

(If this is your first time to General Conference Book Club, click here to learn more about it.)

Post-holiday detox

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Isn’t Christmastime lovely?  And doesn’t winter really stink once Christmas is over?

Here are a few myths that are planted in children’s minds during a holiday vacation that are very hard (yea, even painful) to extract once the holiday is over:

1.  Everytime you turn around you will have a new present.  (Before you judge my parenting, please know that while I am a contributor to this and the other myths, it’s not all my fault.  There are generous family and friends everywhere, and things just get out of control!)

2.  You can eat whatever you want, whenever you want it, and candy for breakfast is fine.

3. We will spend our days thinking of fun things to do together.

4.  All chores and routines are pretty much out the window.

5.  There are lots of grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and other loved ones available anytime you want to play a game or otherwise need assistance.

I’m sure there are other myths too (feel free to add your own to the list), but these are the ones that haunt me the most now that we’re back to real life.

My children are convinced that I am the Grinch, Scrooge, and the Snow Witch combined because I will not let their mythical expectations continue unchecked.  It’s like they’ve completely forgotten how to put clothes in the hamper, clear their dishes, put everything they need in their backpacks every day, do chores and homework, entertain themselves, OBEY, and speak to me without complaining about how unfair their life is.

Someone tell me this will get better soon because I’m thinking about canceling the holidays next year.  Do they make Christmas rehab?

 

Perhaps it’s time I analyze the world in general.

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I haven’t done a real post in about a month.  Life got busy, but life is always busy.  Sometimes it gets so busy your brains almost fall out.  That’s where I went, but not because I’m some psycho over-scheduler or anything… stuff just happens.  Trips to see family, trips for family to see you, Christmas (enough said), children in hospital, loved ones in hospital, and somehow all the regular routines and demands of life don’t take a break during that time (food prep, laundry, housekeeping, obligations at school and church, etc.).  I’m not complaining because a quick look back at your own calendar probably reveals a really similar cacophony of activity.

Anyway, when life gets a little …. shall we say “challenging?”…there are usually a lot of lessons to be learned.  Here’s some of the stuff I’ve been thinking about lately.  (I’m not promising it’s profound or unique, but it’s where I am right now.)

  • When things are so busy, it’s hard to maintain function.  This helps me understand why it’s important to keep our lives as simple and focused-on-the-essentials as possible.  It almost leaves room for crisis, which is sure to occasionally come along.
  • Also, we can go into superhuman mode for a little while and accomplish more than seems possible.  It’s a small kind of miracle that meets the needs at hand, but we cannot maintain daily life in that kind of mode and expect to … here it comes again … function.  Our minds and bodies reach a point where we push their limits and they need rest.  They need recovery.  We have to be able to dial it all back and take care of our basic needs so that we can be useful and helpful again.  For me, I call that limit “oatmeal brain.”  It’s where my mind is so tired of problem-solving that it needs a nap.  And chocolate.
  • People are good.  It’s an amazing thing to watch when family, friends, and even acquaintances step up and rally around someone in crisis.  My brother was in the hospital for 6 days last week.  I’ve witnessed people making visits, preparing food for, offering blessings, sending up prayers, writing encouraging notes, providing childcare and even cleaning and moving all out of love and concern for someone who is suffering.  I understand how busy life can be, so it’s a beautiful sacrifice to watch and a calming reminder that there are still lots and lots of wonderful people left in the world.
  • People are complicated.  Everyone has private struggles and heavy burdens.  Those challenges affect how people see the world and interact with others, sometimes in very intricate and mysterious ways.  It’s easy for us to judge others because our own heartscape and mindscape are so different.  Why doesn’t he just….?  Why can’t she …? It’s way more complicated than that, and we just don’t get it.  It’s a miracle that we’re able to have healthy relationships at all, but I can only attribute that to the grace of Christ and charity– the ability to see others as He sees them.

“I consider charity—or “the pure love of Christ”—to be the opposite of criticism and judging. In speaking of charity, I do not at this moment have in mind the relief of the suffering through the giving of our substance. That, of course, is necessary and proper. Tonight, however, I have in mind the charity that manifests itself when we are tolerant of others and lenient toward their actions, the kind of charity that forgives, the kind of charity that is patient.

I have in mind the charity that impels us to be sympathetic, compassionate, and merciful, not only in times of sickness and affliction and distress but also in times of weakness or error on the part of others.”  – President Thomas S. Monson

  • This is even (maybe especially) true in family relationships.  Maybe part of the reason that God wants us to have families is 1. to get to know someone on an intimate level (faults and all) and still love them, 2. to realize that despite all our familiarity, there’s more to them than we see, and 3. to rely on God to help us treat them the way they need to be treated.  Our Heavenly Father, after all, knows our minds and our hearts and even our nothingness, and loves us with a love that is greater than we can comprehend.  He succors us individually in just the ways we need most.  He shows us how family should be done.  This is hard to do.  Really, really hard.  Especially when we have plenty of our own challenges to deal with.  Maybe this is naive of me, but I think that as we reach out to others in mercy and love, our own suffering will find some refuge and relief.  I just know that we need each other and we need the Lord.
  • Lest you think I sit around having deep thoughts all the time, I’ve also learned that if you put a Lindt dark chocolate truffle and white chocolate truffle in your mouth at the same time, it tastes satisfyingly like a milk chocolate truffle.  I’ve learned that children also have a temporary period of monster-like behavior following a period of vacation.  And I’ve decided that right before a child gets baptized, Satan must get a 90-day free trial with them just so they actually have a good pile of sins to wash away on the big day.

So how about you?  Has life been whispering any lessons to you lately?

GCBC Week 15: Cleansing the Inner Vessel

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Thank you to those of you who have been diligent with GCBC even when I have not been. The past few weeks have brought on several unexpected circumstances that have demanded large quantities of my time, so thank you for being patient with my very intermittent and lame posting.  🙂

This week’s talk is President Packer’s talk about the power of repentance and of the priesthood to heal especially some of the more common ills and temptations of today’s society.

“Nowhere are the generosity and the kindness and mercy of God more manifest than in repentance.”

“Cleansing the Inner Vessel”

President Boyd K. Packer
President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

I previously wrote a little rant where I shared some of my feelings following much of the “controversy” that was arisen from this talk.  I want to make clear that this forum has never, will never and is not now a place to criticize or question the Lord’s anointed.  While questions may obviously arise, I feel that they should always be taken to the Lord, made an object of prayer and study, and not expressed as criticism.

Having said that, I invite you to look at this talk as directed at your very own life and how it can apply to you personally.  What are the stand-out messages, warnings, counsel, and encouragement that you get out of it?

If this is your first time to General Conference Book Club, welcome.  Here is a link that explains how you can join us.