A Transition Time

Families are so important.  And I'm so grateful for the one that I came from. 

I love that I can pick up the phone, or more accurately, my sisters always call me, to see how I am doing and to give me good, clear, consistent advice.

Yesterday, one of my sisters was talking me through a particularly difficult Monday morning, and she asked me, "What are your 'high priorities?' You know you can only really have 1-2 High Priorities to accomplish at one time."

I started to answer her when another call came in.  It was my daughter's school.   Because of my hectic morning with unforeseen events, I was thinking the time was an hour earlier than it actually was and I was now 20 minutes late for Kindergarten half-day pick-up!  Oh, joy!

I've been crying my eyeballs out to my sister the last two days as I've struggled with how to piece together our home so that peace can dwell here, truth can be taught here, and all can thrive here.

I've written and rewritten our daily schedule, and things have gotten more and more stressful for me as I have done so.

I like things to be calm and orderly, which is a must, I feel, for opening up time for Gospel Learning.  It's also a tall, tall order in a family of eight!

I've been poring over Conference talks, reading my scriptures, and trying to think the right thoughts to find the answers I need to feel peace again moving forward.  So if underlining counsel in talks were the magic bullet, I'd have found my answers by now.

I have found that talking with friends and especially with my sister, I've found some good advice.

She reassured me, "When things get confusing, that is Satan.  Do not let him confuse you or trick you into making things harder than they should be.  You have already received revelation, You will continue to receive revelation.  As you act on those things, the path will become clearer.  This is just a transition time...a time of a little bit of tweaking.  We have to be gentle with ourselves as we make these changes."  

After talking to her, I felt calmer about everything.

I know that our family has been putting these principles into action in our home for a long time now.  So, the transition into a slightly newer way of doing things will actually be easier for us than I am making it on myself.  It is the adversary who wishes to make me feel like this is hard or like I can't find my way.

I know my way.  Our home and family IS already gospel-centered.  We have arranged our lives in such a way that learning of the Savior in our home happens often and is exciting to our children and to us.  We have already reaped the blessings that Elder Nelson promised in his final words of General Conference, that over time your Sabbath Days will become a delight, that "your children will be excited to learn and to live the Savior's teaching" and that "the influence of the adversary in your life and in your home will decrease. And that "Changes in your life will be dramatice and sustaining." (See his talk "Becoming Exemplary Latter-day Saints.)

I copied this whole quote onto a big piece of paper and have it hanging in our eating area where we can look at it often and go after those blessings with even more resolve and joy.  I hope that you will too and I wish us all luck as we do so!