Things on My Mind #1 - Family Scripture Study

Ah!  It's Saturday!  A new Netflix movie has arrived--Welcome Back Kotter, Season 1.  That'll be tonight's family entertainment.  Looking forward to my kids imitating Arnold Horseshack and Juan Epstein.  For sure, one of the boys'll come to me asking, "Which one am I, Mom?"  That seems to be a BIG thing right now to them.

I went to bed early last night--still trying to nurse by head back to health, and I have to say, it's much better this morning.  In going to be early, I am now up early and have dozens of things on my mind.

My computer just spontaneously restarted for me.  Not sure what I did, but typing in the dark on a new (and strange) keyboard might have something to do with it.  I got a new computer for Christmas.  I just hope I never push the "spontaneously combust" button--I'm pretty sure there is one.  I just haven't learned what the symbol on it is, or maybe I'll have to push the "function" key first for it to work.  Give it time, Inmate #6'll find it.

So, here's what's on my mind this morning...

First, I found a great blog just now as I was waiting for things to restart.  I'm trying to figure out how to get our family back on track as far as family scripture study goes.  With our increasingly buff Inmate #1 going to class to lift weights at 6:30 in the morning (Yes, she comes home from school and reports how much she bench pressed that day and flexes for me.  It's pretty great, and she's got some pretty amazing biceps.), it has completely thrown us off.  We've been half-hearted in our efforts to hang onto the old way of doing things.  It's clear something else  has to be done, so thus the reason for finding that site.  Here's another--ehow really has everything.

One thing we did at the very beginning was to buy each person in the family their own blue copy of the Book of Mormon.  We bought the hard bound copy, so that it could take a beating (sounds like we have an entertaining time, doesn't it?) and had each person's name embossed on his/her copy.  Mine says, "Mom."  We keep them in a really cute basket that a good friend gave me.  They fit perfectly in it and the basket can be toted around from location to location.



I really do love implementing these kinds of things so that they fit our family.  In the past, we've had one child host scripture study in their bedroom, so we'd go on a little tour of the bedrooms throughout the week.  That child was in charge of making sure their bedroom was clean the night before, having the scripture basket there and ready, and providing some kind of breakfast-y treat--pop tarts (EW!) or granola bars, something like that.  This was how we got our start.  It worked well.

There was more than one  book of scripture that we felt should be studied at that point in time, so I'd lay in the hallway upstairs and read the Old Testament to the kids as they went to sleep at night.  I did this until I was so completely hugely pregnant that I couldn't get myself off the floor.  It was pretty pathetic.  The warden got so he'd put a camping chair at the end of the hallway for me.  It sat there folded up during the day.

But this is exactly where the problem lies.  Every time there's a change in life or even in someone's schedule, things have to be reset--new baby (for my facebook friends, NINP), summer vacation, new trimesters at school, work schedule changes for the Warden....Does anyone have a solution to these problems, or does everybody take these opportunities to learn increased flexibility?

Our current problem is doing it at a good time when everyone will attend.  It also needs to be a time that we can remember.  There used to be a timer set on my Blackberry that would go off to remind us.  This may have to be resorted to again.

I really love family scripture study and how it brings us together.  I feel the difference when we don't do it.  I'm thinking this time we'll bring the kids in on the discussion and see how they want to do it.  If you have any good pointers on this one, we would love to hear them.