Ether

I know the last few posts have been quite religious. Granted, we're Mormon, so by any standards we are very religious. But I don't want to seem overly righteous. It is just that the last few mornings have been really important ones for my family--all because of our scripture study before school. And I know if I don't write them down, I'll forget.

We've tried for years to make daily scripture study with the children a habit. We'd be good for weeks or months at a time, and then I'd always slack off. Lately, though, it seems to be really sticking. We've had it daily for months now and it is starting to click. Perhaps it is because, more than anything, I want our home to have the Spirit here. It seems so much more important now, as I send Josie out into the world for most of the day, that she leaves with that feeling of peace. And perhaps the most amazing thing is that all along I figured I was just doing this for our children, that I was shaping their testimonies of the scriptures and their Savior. Little did I realize that my testimony as well as Eric's would be strengthened so significantly.


Yesterday I woke up feeling really anxious and nervous. I'm not sure why. Maybe a residue of the stressful day before. Then when Josie woke up I started to feel it even more. Then at breakfast it started to make sense. Josie kept asking when it was going to be Monday (it is President's Day on Monday and she knows she doesn't have school). Then she told me she didn't want to go to school today (but she felt a little torn--she had gym and it was 100's day). I think it was a residue of what we felt the day before (not feeling any love at school, fending for yourselves . . . see previous post). And here I am, just as nervous as her to send her out there again. And I know she's fine there, and I know she likes school. It just kills me that for six to seven hours a day she isn't around someone who loves her as much as Eric and I do. That there isn't someone there to tell her how great she is, or to hug her.

So we continued with breakfast. I realized I hadn't picked out a scripture story yet, so I asked Josie to quickly pick a picture to talk about. She picked this one:





So, Eric started to retell the story of Ether and the Jaredites. He explained that Ether lived in a really wicked time. That no one was righteous, everyone was killing each other, and that because Ether was righteous, Heavenly Father protected him and blessed him and was able to help him even in this terrible situation. Now I know that Dicken Elementary isn't even a close similarity to the Jaredite civilization, but when Eric said that I realized that even though Dicken isn't as great as home, Heavenly Father would be with Josie, help her to feel loved and happy and that through our prayers, He could make her feel as if she is at home. Immediately the anxious, nervous feeling I had left. I felt incredible peace that I knew came from God.

Eric went on to explain that God gave Coriantumr repeated chances to repent--even to the very end, but that he didn't. As Eric said that, both of our eyes teared up and he said "Why are we crying?" almost laughing. It just is amazing to think of Heavenly Father's mercy and the Savior's ability to take away sin. Even in such awful circumstances. Certainly, if Heavenly Father was willing to forgive Coriantumr, he'll forgive me for my sins. Eric ended by saying that Moroni makes it clear that the Jaredites fell because they forgot what the Lord had done for them during the tower of Babel. They forgot how the Lord delivered them, and that if they had remembered the Lord's mercy, they wouldn't have fallen.

So this is my effort to remember. To remember that the Lord loves me and my family. Enough to strengthen my testimony, even when teaching our little children.