Probably not the best way to “liken the scriptures”
So our family’s been doing better at the whole reading-the-scriptures-nightly thing. We made a goal a few months back and have stuck with it (except Friday and Saturday nights but who can blame us?). I must confess only part of the family partakes in this evening ritual. Though George is probably old enough to hang with us I have yet to make the effort to make scripture reading fun for him. I’d rather just plow through enjoy them with the older two for now.
Tonight we were reading Mosiah 19 and I could not resist the urge to liken a certain verse to a certain middle child. Let me give a little background before sharing the verse: as we sat down to read, said middle child decided it wasn’t fair (an all to common refrain out of her mouth) Madison was on the computer while she and her dad cleaned the kitchen counter and picked up the family room. How dare Madison do that, even after she’d spent quite a while cleaning the dinner dishes and wiping down the other counters! When Nathan and I tried to remind Lauren yet again how often we help her clean on her dish night, her response was, “Yeah, but that’s because the dishwasher was full!”
We are still trying to teach this middle child of ours we help out each other because we’re a family, because we love each other, because it’s the right thing to do. We don’t help each other expecting something in return or to even the score or because “it’s fair.” It’s not sinking in yet, not even when I immediately reply, “Um, if everything were fair around here I’d be doing A LOT less and you’d all be doing A LOT more!” (And I gave “the eye” to everyone, including Nathan, while saying it.)
Lauren soon realized she was not going to win this mini battle and decided to protest the outcome by not reading aloud when it was her turn. That didn’t last long (go, stern Daddy voice!) and she finally mumbled her way through the verses. At one point it was her turn to read Mosiah 19:8:
And now the king was not so much concerned about his people as he was about his own life; nevertheless, Gideon did spare his life.
Here’s where I likened the scriptures in a probably not so love-and-logic sort of way—and immediately fell out of the running for Mom of the Year. Before Nathan could read the next verse I jumped in to share my brilliant epiphany:
“Hey! This is a good example of likening the scriptures! ‘And now Lauren was not so much concerned about her family as she was about herself; nevertheless, her parents did spare her life.’”
Yeah, that went over really well with a daughter who still occasionally throws tantrums at the age of 10. Maybe it wasn’t inspiration to apply the scriptures in that way, but I couldn’t help myself. I seriously couldn’t help myself. Fortunately she got over it pretty quickly. Me? I’m still laughing about it (on the inside of course).
On another note, this weekend I hope to get all the photos edited from Evonne’s baby shower, cupcakes included, and compiled into a couple posts. One will be “what not to do when making cupcakes for a friend’s baby shower” and the other will be “can you believe so many amazing women were in one place at one time to celebrate Evonne’s super cute belly?” (The answer to that last one is yes. Totally yes.)
Have a great weekend!
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HAHAHAHAHA! That’s awesome! And totally a likening (is that a word?) I’m going to remember!
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At least you’re applying them right?
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Umm, with four children how can you have a “middle one”? You either have the middle two or or don’t have a middle of anything. My work as a grandpa is never done.
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Emily Reply:
February 26th, 2010 at 10:34 am
Okay, so I really have two middle children but if you’re talking “middle child” in the stereotypical sense of the word, I only have one…so far. And yes, your work is never done–that’s why we keep asking (begging) you to come visit!
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ROFLMAO!!!! This. Kills. Me. Soooo funny.
Was just thinking that I bet she’d do really well with some peer leadership opportunities, like student councils or committees or something like that where she was placed in a leadership position and then got the opportunity to really prove how her perspective really is best. Then (as always comes with any type of leadership) she could “enjoy” and learn from all the criticism about her leadership to kind of level her out. Too bad those kinds of experiences don’t come until they’re older. Maybe you could make her “mom” for the afternoon/evening sometime and tell her she gets to have all the responsibility (what you eat for dinner, who cleans up, what activities everyone does) with the fabulous consequences (has to prepare the food amidst people whining that they’re hungry, has to persuade everyone to clean up even if they don’t want to and throw a fit, etc.). Just an idea.. seems like she needs a taste of what it’s like on the opposite end of what she’s dishing out. ;)
p.s. and YOU KNOW how much I completely adore her – this is all in love.
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Man, I can’t WAIT until my daughter is 10. (Yes, that is sarcasm.)
I’m really impressed that you’re not only READING your scriptures, you’re actually talking about them together. We are – not that organized. YET. You give me hope that it will happen at some point. Maybe. Perhaps. :)
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Emily Reply:
February 26th, 2010 at 10:16 pm
Um, we don’t always “discuss.” Sometimes it’s, “Nathan, why don’t you read one of your favorite verses and we’ll call it good?”
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You’ll have to let me know if you come across a scripture that tells kids to not take everything so personally.
We’ve noticed lately (actually my husband articulated it), that my oldest feels really competitive with her next sister. They’re almost 4 years apart, so they shouldn’t be competitive–and the younger sister just thinks the older is the bee’s knees. But now she’s learning to read, too, and it’s like the older one feels threatened or something. So we sat her down and said, hey, you’ll always be older and learning things first, try to be encouraging. I’ll let you know if that works.;p
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Emily Reply:
February 27th, 2010 at 11:04 am
If I come across anything on that, I’ll use it first and then pass it along. Our second oldest has struggled with her sister doing everything first for years and years. Even at ten she doesn’t quite get that she’ll get to go to YWs when she’s 12 and she’ll get to do this and that when she’s that age. She laments her sister is better at everything and we try to remind her, her sister has also had two more years practice. Let me know if what you’re doing works!
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Love it! That is hilarious. I can’t wait until I can use scriptures on Aiden. ;)
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Our family motto started as, “Life’s not fair. The sooner you learn this, the happier you’ll be.” As the kids continued to protest that ‘life’s not fair,’ we ammended our motto: “Life’s not fair . . . get over it!” It works! When they start to complain, I only have to recite the first word or two of the motto before they say, “I know. I KNOW!” :)
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Emily Reply:
February 27th, 2010 at 9:39 pm
I’ve loved that “Life’s not fair. The sooner…” phrase ever since you shared it with me. I’ve used it a lot. Perhaps I need to switch to your latest one!
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I think that’s hilarious!
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I just wish that we were motivated enough to do scripture study. =( boo on Paul and I…because Savannah really wants to learn. We should take advantage while she still wants to!
OOoooh, I am so excited for all of your posts. I couldn’t believe all those women were there either. It was pretty much the best day ever!
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I know, and I just got a bunch of work so it may not be until later this week but I will get it up soon!
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