Thursday, August 7, 2008

Thoughts today

I'm reading a great book, Whisperings of the Spirit, by Nancy Murphy. Each chapter comes with a challenge or suggestion of something to work on to hear and feel the spirit more fully in our lives. The last one resonated with me:

Identify something in your life- an attitude, a weakness, a habit or an action- that may be keeping the Spirit from you, even in a small degree, and resolve to give it up. This will strengthen your relationship with the Holy Ghost and bring him into your life in a deeper and more meaningful way.


This book has pointed out that the Holy Ghost is always speaking to us, always. We just need to fine-tune our listening ears to hear what he's trying to communicate. Prayer and the promptings of the Spirit are intricately connected. The Lord reminded Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery that as often as they had asked, they had received instruction through the Holy Ghost (D&C 6:14). We are given the same promise and allowed the same privilege: Whenever we ask, the Lord will answer. Reassuring, if you ask me. I'm still trying to decide what behavior it is that I need to eliminate from my life to allow the Spirit to more fully communicate with me. Impatience comes to mind as does mindless television, although with most shows off for the summer, I don't feel like I've wasted a lot of time with TV lately. What would you sacrifice in order to open the airwaves?

The other thing I want to remember today is how well my children are interacting with each other. Beckham is very observant to what is going on around him and both Cooper and Seneca often include him in their activities. Seneca thinks she's on top of the world when her brother will play with her. Cooper often pretends to chase her, with her waddling away as fast as she can and laughing all the way while he says, "come back here, you silly little girl!" Cooper is a little sheriff, but he's sharing and taking turns and there is lots of laughing. Wrestling has been introduced and they are often rolling together on the floor as they laugh their heads off. There simply isn't a better sound. And most of the time it's worth the mess...

5 comments:

bryn said...

your kids just sound like they are doing so great together. there is nothing better than the sound of those giggles and it is totally worth any mess! :)

Unknown said...

Nancy is in my old home ward. Wonderful woman and sooo insightful. I actually used to babysit for her. I love this book too! Steph

The Qian Family said...

Hi, I always enjoy peeking at your blog. I particularly liked your post about "where we are today". I think I'll steal that one and do the same one of these days. Thanks for your great example!

Sandi said...

How to keep that level of joy in children as they mature into teens and then adults. I try to remember that level of joy in my life. Watching children feel it to the max makes it easier for me to remember that feeling. Thanks for sharing, you described it perfectly.

Kari said...

Funny that you posted this because I've been thinking along the same lines recently. I need to try and be more forgiving; learn to let the little things go. And be more aggressive in serving others. Those are the two I decided to work on right now. Thanks for the reminder!