Everyone always refers to that first year of marriage as the "Honeymoon" year. That was not how it was for Jared and I. That year was horrible. We fought constantly. I'd like to say it was because we decided to have children right away, so it was just pregnancy hormones, but it wouldn't be true. Jared was just really immature back then. Any small irritated snap would cause a full blown fight and if Jared didn't apologize, I wouldn't talk to him, for days. I like to fume and do nice things just to make Jared feel bad. I'm pretty sure we spent at least half of that first year married not talking to each other.
The second year, we were still fighting like crazy, but we started getting our spiritual lives together a little more. We started doing family scripture study; which consisted of Jared, our daughter Scout, and me. Like most spiritual things, we didn't notice it making any difference when we read daily, but on the days we forgot to read, we fought all day long. Then it would take a few days of reading again to get back to having a pleasant family life.
Elder Richard G. Scott explains, "Scriptures can calm an agitated soul, giving peace, hope and restoration of confidence in one's ability to overcome the challenges of life. They have the potent power to heal emotional challenges when there is faith in the Savior."
D&C 68:4 "First seek to obtain my word, and then... if you desire, you shall have my spirit and my word, yea, the power of God."
How can we get more, spiritually, out of our scripture study?
First, we need to remember as we read, individually or as a family, that the main purpose is to fall in love with the scriptures. Pres. Eyring said, " If you don't really love the scriptures yourself, then scripture study doesn't have as much power (for you or your family)."
I am not a touchy person and sitting on the couch with kids climbing on me, while one throws a fit because they wanted to sit in that spot, and the two year old is screaming because nobody is watching him sing every song he can think of all while I am trying to have a deep theological discussion didn't work. I didn't love getting kicked in the head by kids trying to do head stands on the couch and the kids didn't love getting yelled at and sent to bed once I finally blew up at them.
Now we scale back. We even switched to the Old Testament to change it up. My kids are young so we only read the scripture verses that tell stories right now. I figure, if I can get my kids to love the scriptures by just sticking to the stories, then they will have the rest of their lives go deeper. The goal is, when we go to read the Old Testament again, for they will be excited. It's working, too. A month ago, my nine year old told me, "Some people think reading the scriptures is boring, but I don't. I think they are like Indiana Jones."
Whether we aren't reading, or we are but infrequently, we need to start reading our scriptures daily. Elder Bednar said, "One of the best ways to draw near unto (the Savior) and to both learn about and become more like the Lord Jesus Christ is to consistently study the holy scriptures- to daily feast upon the words of Christ."
Pres. Henry B. Eyring said, "The Holy Ghost confirms to us the word of God when we read (the scriptures). That confirmation, repeated often, strengthens our faith. And it is by faith that we overcome obstacles and resist temptation."
Commit to reading at least a few verses every day. To do this, Pres. Eyring suggests setting a time of day to study the scriptures. He does his every morning and night, which I really like. If your goal is to read every morning and night, and you accidentally miss one, you have still done it daily.
Another suggestion to help with daily scripture reading is to keep track of how many consecutive days you have read. Make a game of it, see who can read the most days without missing. Plan a special activity or treat for every 10th consecutive day you read. You could also team up with a friend and check in on each other every day to make sure scripture reading got done.
Pres. Eyring gives encouragement saying, "Once you get used to a regular scripture study, you miss it if you don't have it." That will help you get back on track if you don't ignore the feeling.
Pres. Eyring does mention that reading scriptures with teenagers can be difficult. Often they will say they would rather read by themselves then with the family. He encourages parents to see this as a victory instead of a defeat. He says your child may be saying, "I'm getting something when I'm alone that I don't get when we are all together.' Take that as a wonderful sign that the scripture study is beginning to take hold in your teens heart." I know a family that sets reading assignments for each family member to read that day. Then they gather around the dinner table and discuss insights each has gained during their study.
Daily reading and a love for the scriptures in my children is all I really hope for right now in my family scripture study. But sometimes we want or need more out of it personally. Elder Bednar advises us to pray for understanding and to have the spirit, then ponder how these scriptures apply to us, and write down our impressions, thoughts and feelings.
President Eyring strongly encourages us to go looking for help in the scriptures in times of trials. He will buy a cheap Book of Mormon and type questions or problems he is having in different colored ink. Then when he reads he looks for verses that relate to those questions and problems and highlights them in the corresponding color. Pres Eyring said, "The Lord seemed to anticipate all of our problems and all of our needs and He put help in the scriptures for us- if only we seek it."
Both Pres. Eyring and Elder Scott suggest memorizing scriptures. Elder Scott said, "Learning, pondering, searching, and memorizing scriptures is like filling a filing cabinet with friends, values and truths that can be called upon anytime, anywhere in the world."
Pres. Eyring related his admiration of President Hinkley and Bruce R. McConkie's ability to speak the words of the scriptures in their daily conversations in a way that you couldn't tell if they were quoting a scripture or just talking. He tells us, "We all can have the dream of someday having the word of God be so much a part of us that the Lord can draw upon it and we can learn to think as He does. And in the process we can come unto him."
I know that reading the scriptures can invite the Holy Ghost to play a prominent part in our lives to change us all for the better and brings us closer to the Lord.
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