Morning Scripture Study

This is a slightly blurry, but extra happy picture of the kids one morning about a month ago.  We get them up at 6am every day so that we have time to study the scriptures as a family before the madness of breakfast and trying to get everyone out the door on time sets in.  They usually aren't as smiley as they are in this picture.  Although lately they have been much happier about it than usual.  I think it's because now it is light when I get them up.  That helps a lot!  Right now we are reading in the Book of Mormon and just finished Ether a few days ago.  We are almost done with the whole Book of Mormon!  I don't know how many times now we have read it as a family. 

My favorite part of our morning scripture time is when we actually stop reading and start talking about the things we have been reading and what they mean to us and what we can learn from them.  That doesn't happen very often, but it's great when it does.  Usually the kids and James are all struggling to keep their eyes open and I'm struggling to keep Spencer on my lap and quiet enough that we can all hear whoever it is that's reading in their barely awake, very quiet, voice. 

Just the other day as we were finishing the book of Ether we read about the final duel between Coriantumr and Shiz, and how Coriantumr was then left all alone.  We talked about how hard that must have been and how he could have avoided that if he had listened to the prophet.  Then we talked about why we have trials, some that we choose and some that we don't.  We asked the kids what kinds of hard things they have had and what they have learned from them.  Naomi jumped right in with, "Jobs!"  Ellen talked about getting to school.  We asked Stephen if he had been through anything hard and then learned from it.  He said, "I don't really know."  So we talked about how sometimes we have trials and hard things and don't realize what we have learned from them until years later.  The kids didn't do a lot of talking, and I really don't know if they have given that whole conversation another thought.  But I thought about it all that day and throughout the week.  Maybe someday they will remember it when they need it.