Something that I realized at church today is going to be helpful to me as I take this on. We were discussing the creation. We discussed the beautiful world around us - the waterfalls, flowers, rock formations, mountains, sunsets, trees, breeze, colors and many other beautiful things. We were filled with awe as we pondered the many beautiful things Heavenly Father created for us in this world.
Yesterday, at the conference, one speaker mentioned how we can use the creation as a model for how to create the right environment in our home. It was an interesting parallel.
Well, what struck me today, was the great care that our Heavenly Father put into making this Earth an environment where we can receive what we need in order to reach our potential. He put a lot of effort into this. He did this because of the great love that he has for us.
I can put more effort into making my home an environment where my children can thrive and reach their potential. It can be really difficult sometimes to make an orderly environment, but, like our Heavenly Father, I can put forth the effort because of the great love I have for my children.
I know He will help me - they are His children too. He's really good at creating environments :-)
I'm not just talking about putting up pretty pictures. I'm talking about making a place where things are real and distractions minimal. I want my kids to understand true beauty.
I'll go into more detail later as I make a few gradual changes, but I thought some pictures of some of the beautiful hikes we've gone on lately would go along nicely with this post:
One of the hikes with my brother when he was visiting:
Not only was the hike majestic, but the conversation was edifying!
We used to hike together a lot - it was great to do it again.
He missed the mountains greatly. Who wouldn't?
Overlooking the valley. This hike is about 3 minutes from my parent's house. What a blessing!
Last week, our family went on a hike with the cub scouts:
Great friends:
I'm so blessed!
Bazinks collected sticks along the way. If I held his hand, he would get mad at me because I was "just walking by all the sticks!"
I'm living the ultimate dream.
Great ideas, thanks for sharing. We just did a HUGE purge! It feels so nice. I got rid of everything that we don't use. I think our house had a bi-pass. I've found that I'm freed up considerably and life seems simpler with out so many "good books," "fun games" and other things staring at me to be dusted and rearranged. So good luck!
ReplyDeleteI adore the purge. Have fun!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that environment is really important. I can get a lot more done in a clean comfortable room with no distractions. When things are out of place or messy I get easily distracted.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, Does everything have to be inspired by God? I mean seriously is every clever idea not your own? I mean there is such a thing as being smart. If I was god I'd kinda get sick of taking credit for everything good everyone does.
SS- Your comment reminded me of a time when I had just gotten out of my "American Heritage" class at UVSC. I got the highest score in the class on a test again. I was standing on the sidewalk that goes on top of the buildings and I was thinking about how smart I was. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the words to a primary song popped into my head, "He gave me my heart, my mind, my heart". I was able to get off my pedestal after that.
ReplyDeleteAfter all, all truth comes from God. It's not like I'm discovering or learning something He doesn't already know - I'm just thankful when I finally figure something out (in hindsight, usually it's something He's been trying to get me to see for some time) because it brings me so much joy.
I know but isn't it depressing to think that you never create or discover anything. Michelle and I were talking about this yesterday and I think she helped me realize my biggest problem I have with religion. I never know what the person I'm talking to actually thinks about things. Quoting a book that is thousands of years old seems like a bad idea to me. I personally believe that Karen is a better authority on child development then Moses. I really do. Yet somehow I get Karen to use Moses to make an argument rather than data and experience.
ReplyDeleteSo are you saying that when I discover something on my own I should never take credit because we think there is an all knowing entity floating in space that knew it first? So what?!? If he is all that powerful and smart than do you really think he needs praise? How bad of a self esteem does he have?
SOoo. I just think that you have a lot of really good ideas about parenting and life. I get tired of reading through all appeals to a higher authority of primitive old men's ideas.
You refer to the creation a lot like things are only beautiful in context of them being created. Imagine they were not created by god, would they be ugly? I don't get how it is related. Is it just beautiful or is it beautiful because God made it? I think you just think nature is beautiful. Is god like a special needs kid that we clap whenever he does anything remotely intelligent? I just don't get it.
I'm trying to imagine a world were Karen does not believe in God. In this world she thinks that bad environments don't matter. She is not capable of getting out of ruts on her own. She would force feed her kids knowledge rather than having them learn on there own. She would fail at every goal because she can't focus on christ. Basically it would be a small miracle if she could walk a couple of steps before embarrassing herself. Or at least before her hellish children stab her in the middle of the night because they don't know that Jesus loves them.
Ok now I have vented. I love and respect you. I think highly of you so I guess I get frustrated with all the modesty.
Spence - Thank-you, I do wish modesty was one of my virtues, unfortunately I often don't give credit where credit is due. However, I do not think God needs my giving him credit. It is just me who needs to see things for what they are.
ReplyDeleteGiven the fact that I believe God created this beautiful world, it would be funny to me to talk of it in any other way. I just say things how I see them.
I'm learning that all truth is interconnected. You can't learn a lot about one "subject" without being led to learn more about something else - it's all one big subject: truth. The reason that scriptures and prophets help me with parenting is not because they talk specifically about parenting practices, but because they shed light on eternal principles that I can apply to parenting. I hope that makes sense.
Your other comment about SIMS was funny. I wonder how people can not see how absurd what they are doing is.