Sunday, January 13, 2008

Part II

I got new scriptures for my birthday from my sweetie. I've been hinting for a couple years that "it'd be nice to have scriptures with my married name on them." Well, he finally got them for me - so I can stop using the ones that say Clever now :) Besides some of the pages are starting to fall out.

I'm excited to have them now since it's right at the beginning of the year and we're studying the Book of Mormon in our Sunday School Class (we rotate the book that we study: BOM, Old Test, New Test, you get the idea). I LOVE having my new scriptures. I was a little sad to not use my ones that are already marked up and whatnot, but this is my new beginning :) So, I've been doing my personal scripture study when Sophie goes for a nap each day. For me, I have to have it be part of my routine or I forget.

Anyway, I'm trying to make a concerted effort to " liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning." 1 Ne 19:23

So, before I go on, read these two verses from 1 Ne chapter 9...

5 Wherefore, the Lord hath commanded me to make these plates for a wise purpose in him, which purpose I know not.
6 But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men; for behold, he hath all power unto the fulfilling of all his words. And thus it is. Amen.

Done? Ok. Need to read them again? Ok, I'll wait....
Nephi engraved all this stuff onto plates of metal and he had no idea why. Can you imagine how long that took and how hard that was? If I asked you to take an pick and axe and burrow through the rockies, you would want to know why - otherwise you wouldn't do it, or at least murmur against me. So often in my own youth and seeing other youth and even the not-so-young, there is a lot of questioning of easy, simple stuff.... for example... "why can't we get tattoos?" "What's the harm in an R-rated movie?" "Seriously we have to go to church for 3 hours? Why?" Murmur, murmur, murmur. Yet, Nephi (who was also very young) made these plates and didn't have to ask and didn't have to know because he had faith and knew that the Lord had a wise purpose.

Which brings me to another point, more of likening the verses directly to me, I suppose.
I sometimes get impatient with the timeline of having kids for us. Generally speaking, it will take us much longer and much more money to have our family than a good majority of other people (but not as much as others), and sometimes I get impatient. Yet, I KNOW that the Lord has a plan for our family. He has shown it so many times and I have such great faith in this... maybe sometimes I still murmur, or at least think of murmuring in my heart. Not against God, but just in general. Wo is me, I suppose. I try not to, and generally think I do a pretty good job, but some thoughts still creep in. I guess what I'm babbling about is that I need to just do my part. I need to have more of Nephi's attitude and go and do what my job is. The Lord will show the plan later for he knoweth all things from the beginning, will prepare a way, and hath all power unto fulfilling the plan.

3 comments:

DeGooyer Family said...

Lori, you have such a good perspective. As you know, we've had trials in this area of life, too, and I think it's great that you have the faith and patience to endure - many people don't. What helps me a lot is remembering this: Heavenly Father knows us more than we'll ever know ourselves, and He will always know what's best for us. I think the hardest part is wanting righteous blessings, and having to wait. His time table is usually different from ours, but it's the perfect one. =) You have such a good attitude, and I'm grateful for your example.

Becky said...

Hi, I came upon your blog while looking for New Beginning ideas. I loved your thoughts on King Benjamin and was wondering if you by any chance have already had your program or are close to doing it. We have our on the 22nd of Jan. and I wanted to hear if you had anymore thoughts on your ideas or if anyone else gave you ideas. If you don't mind I would love to hear from you. My email is beckyorton@yahoo.com and my blog is beckyandsteveorton.blogspot.com. We live in NH and I am in charge of our program - any help would be great. I did have a thought if you were still interested. After the king Benjamin speech - you could have him give a charge to go out and "abound in Good Works" and then have the group enter another room where a quick service project will be ready for them to do before continuing on with the program? Just a thought. Thanks for your help though. Becky

Becky said...

Thank you for responding to my comment. I would still love to hear how your new beginnings went. Ours is next Tuesday. You have a beautiful family. Love, Becky