The Secret of the Sacred Morning

Imagine the radiance of a sunrise, when all the gray turns to dawn and the whole world breathes in freshness. Have you ever woken before the rest of your house--when all is quiet and perfectly still? Have you ever walked through the rooms of your home as Moses approached the burning bush--in reverent awe as you tread softly on sacred ground? The peace feels almost other-worldly in a home that is usually filled with the laughter and lively voices of little children.

Anyone who is acquainted with the early hours knows that mornings hold a well-kept secret:

Mornings are powerful. And intrinsically, they set the tone for the rest of the day.

Harness the tranquility of the morning and you have captured a spirituality that will uphold and surround you for the rest of the day. The Spirit you find in the morning will fill you up and radiate outward to those in your sphere of influence.

And summer is especially conducive to this sacred kind of morning.

I have learned a few lessons this summer through experimentation and trial and error:

1. I can feel the difference. On the days that I bask in the stillness, scuba-dive into the treasure chest of God's holy word, and record Heaven's answers, I am a holier person. I mother more like the Savior ministers. And the days when I sleep in too long, missing out on a morning renewal, and instead rush through the chaos of the morning, I feel the lack.
2. Summer is the perfect time to spend the morning stillness with our children. When my boys were toddlers I used to dread the thought of them waking up during "my study time" because it would interrupt the stillness. I tiptoed around hoping not to wake them and inwardly cringed if they awoke. How I wish I would have realized as a brand new mother that my children were not stillness breakers as I assumed, but stillness seekers just like myself. As mothers, we hold the power to take them in our arms, snuggle them, and model for our children just how we soak in the stillness. This summer I rejoice if my children join me in my morning sacred hour. They sit with me in the comfort of my bed or the beauty of our white sofa and together we enjoy the peace.
3. There are many resources for children to savor. Find children's scripture readers here, here, here, and here, scripture videos here, more inspiring children's videos here, online games and activities here, a family history coloring book for only $.85 here, a beautiful and inexpensive children's magazine here, or the online version here.
4. The early morning can become a laboratory of learning how to live like our Savior. This new idea was just given to me on Friday night as I sat in the temple, and I am anxious to try it out today. This website here has countless Bible videos that demonstrate the moments of our Savior's life from recorded scripture. I want to watch one small video a day and then seek to let the power of Christ change me into a mother who ministers to my children just as He would minister to them if He were here.
5. The still morning doesn't last forever. Much too soon the house wakes up, the stillness dissipates, and the home becomes a little hive of busyness. We kneel in family prayer, eat breakfast, and send Daddy off to work. And if I'm not careful, I can let the last few seconds of stillness slip through my fingers untapped. In those last few moments before the hustle ensues, it is good for us to share what we learned from our spiritual feast. It is a precious time I can use to shape their little spirits as well as my own. Sharing insights can produce a special kind of spiritual synergy.

Will you join me in the hushed holiness of the early morn? Will you use this time to cloak your home in the robes of reverence so that you and your home become shelters of security, safe havens of holiness, and sanctuaries of stillness?

Be still and know that he is God. 

Read in the reverence.

Put on the protection of peace.

Write in the stillness.

The miracle of the morning is the best-kept secret around.

Finding Your Sacred Center

When I think of creating a sacred summer, dozens of ideas come to mind—all wonderfully amazing things I could do with my children to bring a sense of the sacred into our summer.

But then it occurred to me one day.

Sacred isn’t something we do.

Sacred is something we are.

 Sacredness begins within the secret chambers of the heart, reaches out to the world around us, and then circles back to envelop our hearts in peace.

In the sweet words of Marjorie Pay Hinckley:

“True spirituality makes you loving and grateful, and forgiving, and patient, and gentle, and long-suffering. True spirituality breathes reverence into every act and deed. It compels you to get in touch with your Heavenly Father every single day of your life.”

Don’t you love that? “True spirituality breathes reverence into every act and deed.” That is the essence of a sacred heart.

Imagine if just one person embraced the subject of sacredness with such passion, such zeal and devotion, that it literally became part of them. Can you imagine the result? Christlike light and holiness would naturally radiate outward and encircle everyone in that one person’s sphere of influence.

You can be this person—no matter your station, stature, or calling in life. You can create a sacred chamber within. You can embody sacredness.

My call right now is to be a mother. And oh how I need sacredness in this daunting stewardship. I want to have the light of sacredness emanating from me like the beacon of a lighthouse. I want my children to feel safe and loved and peaceful in our home. I want them to feel that when they are with me they are in the presence of a true disciple of Christ. Nothing I endeavor to give my children can surpass the gift of who I am and how I mother them.

I think I have focused too intently on how to be a good mother with all of the accompanying shoulds and to-do’s. I’ve lingered too long in the valley of “I need to do this, that, and the other in order for my children to be happy.” I’ve stressed too much about implementing programs and lessons and activities. I’ve worried too often about how to make their childhood “perfect,” and not enough on how to perfect myself for them.

I may be a slow learner, but Heavenly Father is ever patient with me. And He is teaching me now that what I do for them will never satisfy that deep longing I have to be a good mother. The only lasting legacy I can give them is myself.

So this summer, I will endeavor to become sacred for them.

• I will dive daily into God’s word searching for answers and strength and peace.
• I will call upon Father and pray for my children with all of the fervor I can muster.
• I will model for them the virtues and practices I want them to embody someday.
• I will speak with the tongue of angels.
• I will take time to be still as often as necessary, to calm my anger, hurt, or the sense of overwhelming responsibility I feel. And in those moments I will just breathe. And pray.
• I will center myself through daily pondering and meditation in order to create a calm pillar of strength within me so that stress, emotion, and opposition have no power over me. 
• And most importantly, I will seek to obtain the Holy Spirit as my guide, because when He is with me, I am able minister to my children as if the Savior Himself stood beside me. 

This could be the summer of sacred becoming.

Heartstrings.

As human beings we each have four chambers in our hearts that pump life-giving blood to our bodies. Figuratively speaking, I like to imagine that we also have a fifth chamber--a special place where our heartstrings reside...

Today I am posting on Multiply Goodness all about these special heartstrings and how you can find yours...click here to read these rest...

The Queen Bee Challenge

Hello Friends!

It's Friday and I'm so happy.

This week has been filled with Science experiments, Art projects, baseball games, reading "The Chronicles of Narnia," a trip to the library, and swimming.

Summer is so incredibly sweet....and busy. It hums along like a bumblebee, and if we're awake and aware, our homes can become a hive of happily humming bees busily engaged in making honey and other sweet summer things.

Or they can become a hornet's nest of squabbling contention and noisy discord.

I challenge myself this weekend to make my home a hive of happiness, a haven of holiness {even if summer tends to have a higher volume than other seasons}.

When the buzz of my children would usually cause me to quiet them down and hush their play, I will choose to smile instead and love them for their exuberant childlike wonder.

And when the buzz threatens to turn to angry cacophony, I will choose to be a loving queen bee, and bring sweetness back to my hive.

Care to join me?

P.S. I'm doing a GIVEAWAY on Instagram right now for an original hand-lettered 8x10. It ends tomorrow--so go follow me @writinginthestillness to enter!

My Scripture Study Journal

{Note: Today's post is a follow-up to last week's post, How I Mark My Scriptures.}

I have kept a study journal off and on ever since I started studying the scriptures. For many years, though, there was no rhyme or reason to how I organized my journal. While there's nothing wrong with that approach, I knew I could glean more from my scripture study if I could master a more effective way to record the treasures I learn. So for the past several months I've prayed and researched many different ways to keep a study journal.

And then one day I had the best idea yet: I called my mom.

She told me the way she has been studying the Conference talks and recording in her study journal. She learned this method from President Packer when she attended a meeting. It is simple but extremely powerful.

• Draw a vertical line down the middle of your paper. 
• Title the left column: To Remember (or What I Learned)
• Title the right column: Promptings & Impressions (or What I Felt)

As you study the talk (or passage of scripture), record quotes, wonderful ideas from the author, and other information that you wish to remember in the left column.

Then in the right column, write about what that quote means to you or how it applies specifically to your situation. You can also use this column to record inspiration you receive from the Spirit as you are studying. He speaks to us in quiet whispers as we study the word of God, and often, the impressions have nothing to do with what we are studying. This is the beauty of personal revelation.

After you have finished studying the talk, or the chapter, or even just a verse (depending on how deep you scuba dive), turn the page over or start a new page.

• Title this section: My Action Plan

This is an important step. If what we learn does not translate into action, our study yields but little. I love a story told about President Boyd K. Packer by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland that illustrates this point:

"President Boyd K. Packer, himself a master teacher and long-time administrator in the Church Educational System, has a question he often asks when we have made a presentation or given some sort of exhortation to one another in the Twelve. He looks up as if to say, 'Are you through?' And then says to the speaker (and, by implication, to the rest of the group), 'Therefore, what?'

“'Therefore, what?' I think that is what the Savior answered day in and day out as an inseparable element of His teaching and preaching...These sermons and exhortations were to no avail if the actual lives of His disciples did not change.

In this "Action Plan" space you can review your notes and determine what you are going to do with the information you have learned. Let the Spirit guide you to know what goals you can take away from your study to improve your life and make you a truer disciple of Jesus Christ. Then, revisit your action plan in a week or so to reflect and evaluate your progress.

Below is a sample of a study I conducted on Sister Cheryl A. Esplin's talk, "Filling our Homes with Light and Truth." Notice I use different colors because I'm such a visual learner. 

To Remember is recorded in purple

Promptings are recorded in green

Questions in blue

Answers in dark blue

Warnings in orange

Promises in pink

Action Plan in red

In conclusion, let me share a quote from Elder Richard G. Scott:

"I start reading a passage of scripture; I ponder what the verse means and pray for inspiration. I then ponder and pray to know if I have captured all the Lord wants me to do. Often more impressions come with increased understanding of doctrine. I have found that pattern to be a good way to learn from the scriptures."

You will be blessed as you seek to be tutored from on High. I know this with all of my heart. The blessings I have received since studying the word of God in such a simple, yet profoundly deep way, are too innumerable to count. I know the same will be for you.

How I Mark My Scriptures

I received a sweet comment on Instagram last week asking about my scripture marking system. So today’s post is dedicated to the topic of scripture marking and I will do a follow-up post soon about scripture study journals.

First off, I have to give credit to my angelic mother. It was she who taught me how to reverence and treasure my scriptures. How could I ever forget the memories I have of my mother pressing her scriptures to her heart like a fragile keepsake, as she would bear testimony of the truthfulness of the scriptures and of her love for them?

It was she who taught me that reading the scriptures from cover to cover is like snorkeling, but a deep study of the scriptures is like scuba diving. Both ways are good and necessary to our growth and understanding of God’s holy word. It was she who taught me how to mark my scriptures.

Now, there are as many ways to mark and study the scriptures as there are people who do so. Today I will share with you just a few. You do not have to do all of them at once. My favorite thing to do is to purchase an inexpensive copy of the Book of Mormon each time I finish it all the way through and mark it up in a new way the next time.

COLOR CODE

When I was a teenager, I used a modified version of my mom's color code system to fit my personal needs. You can code each color with anything specific that fits your needs. With different colors of marking pencils, I underlined verses and phrases as follows:

Yellow: Doctrine

Orange: Warnings

Light Purple (or Pink): Promises and Blessings

Red: The Savior

Green: Qualities I was looking for in a husband

Purple: Qualities I needed to develop to prepare for my eternal companion

SPECIFIC THEMES

• When President Hinckley encouraged us to read the Book of Mormon in 2005, I knew it was definitely time to “snorkel” through my scriptures. But still, I wanted to read with a purpose, so I decided to discover for myself just how much the Book of Mormon testifies of Jesus Christ (since its subtitle is, Another Testament of Jesus Christ.) As I read, I underlined in red pencil every time I read a name of Jesus Christ, or the words He spoke. By the time I finished, my copy was filled with thousands of red marks. It was unbelievable. {But don’t take my word for it; experiment for yourself.}
• When I became a mother, I studied the Book of Mormon and made extensive notes in the margins about how to raise children and what to teach them. I was so grateful for my new baby boy, but so overwhelmed with the all-encompassing role of motherhood. This study helped me find such peace and direction at this particular crossroads in my life.
• One time I read the Book of Mormon and paid special attention to each individual book. Usually within the first chapter or two I could clearly see the point the author was going to make. So I marked, circled, and made notes in the margins and when I finished each book I would write the “theme” of the book at the beginning.
• Another time when I was expecting my daughter, I searched for “grace” as I read. It was a profound study on the grace of Jesus Christ and just how much He showers His grace upon His people. I finished the Book of Mormon just days before she was born and gave her the middle name of “Grace.”

I would challenge you to take these things to heart. Some of these ideas may be just what you need—or maybe the Spirit whispered to you a new way to “scuba dive.”

Do you have ways of marking and/or studying the scriptures that have been meaningful to you? I would be so grateful if you would leave your ideas in the comments. I would love to learn from you…