I am so grateful for the many opportunities I have to teach my children about subjects that matter most to me. (Kindness, Faith, God, Temples, Family, Repentance, Humility) With the new come follow me program the kids are learning the scriptures, but it also gives me the chance to bare testimony of the truth contained in the Book of Mormon and Bible. I think maybe the kids enjoy it because it prolongs bedtime but they are learning and asking questions. We get to act out the stories. Usually nothing big and organized; more like, "Demitri, show us what it means to fear and tremble exceedingly." We are learning and growing as a family with our focus on Christ.
For family home evening last Sunday we talked about Lehi's vision of the tree of life. I used a ball of yarn as the iron rod and I wound it around everything! The string led the kids through the bathtub, under the table, sometimes forward and sometimes back. I was hesitant to do this because I thought it might just be too pinterest like (you know a lot of sparkle with no substance). But I as an adult learned and loved it as we shared this experience. We started the kids in the stinky bathroom with all the lights off. So complete darkness and chaos because this was a new experience. We began with a song, I am a child of God, and then Paisley said the prayer. It was instant that peace and happiness abode as we sang of truths even though the darkness had not changed. I then began to explain how we needed to follow the string to figure out where the tree of life was. Daphney later talked about how "she felt more relaxed and excited when she knew there was a plan and a purpose to get back to the light and out of darkness." I love that!
I felt the concern of father Lehi as I watched my son try to be first and so rather than always hang onto the rope he would bounce around the strings grabbing hold of which ever one seemed to be going the right way. I was surprised by my feelings watching him. I wished he would find joy in the journey and not miss the experience by simply trying to get to the destination. I want to remember that when I have to wait upon the Lord.
Things that have become relevant from LEHI'S VISION.
iron rod is the word of God -
I could always match those two phrases together, but this time I think I finally understood the pleading of a prophet of God to strive to be true to the commandments. There are many issues that I don't know or understand and consequently I am so grateful for a prophet and the scriptures that I can lean on and know that they speak truth so that I can go forward. I have a renewed motivation to know and hold sacred their words.
mist of darkness-
One day I was driving through a blizzard while taking a baby to the Urgent care. I had been feeling anxiety trying to plan and be ready for the future and you know figure out what that is supposed to be. I was thinking about some of these issues when I took in my surroundings and was like oh no where am I? (literally three blocks from home/ blizzard was that bad that I couldn't see the houses.) I had impressed into my mind, "You are not meant to see through the darkness." What a relief that was to me. It took off some of the pressure I had placed on myself and renewed my determination to hold fast to the truths that I did know.
fruit of the tree-
I had always pictured this long journey that people go on and eventually if they are good and endure to the end they got this reward of partaking to the tree of life. And while there may be truth to that I never correlated the fruit to be something that we could partake of daily as we seek and partake in the love of God. This was life changing.
great and spacious building-
Maybe it is because of social media and people being able to argue about everything, but when I was younger I felt support of my standards. I had friends that would inconvenience themselves in an effort to encourage and respect my beliefs even though they were different. Now I feel like truth in large part is being mocked and degraded. I have been called uneducated, intolerant, old-fashioned, uncultured, and faulty. These voices are loud and they're like never before. Not just for our church but for people of all religion fighting for right. Hold to the rod and let the words of others strengthen your resolve.
