Natalie and I came up with this idea. We needed something simple, that would help us get in a better habit of personal prayers. I was realizing that I’m…. old and I still dont remember to say my morning prayers. I wanted to not only get in the habit myself but I wanted my children to develop it while they are young. I was really motivated by THIS TALK “Make the exercise of your faith your first priority.”
A couple parts really stood out to me-
“The first tool is prayer. Choose to converse with your Father in Heaven often. Make time every day to share your thoughts and feelings with Him. Tell Him everything that concerns you. He is interested in the most important as well as the most mundane facets of your life. Share with Him your full range of feelings and experiences.
Because He respects your agency, Father in Heaven will never force you to pray to Him. But as you exercise that agency and include Him in every aspect of your daily life, your heart will begin to fill with peace, buoyant peace. That peace will focus an eternal light on your struggles. It will help you to manage those challenges from an eternal perspective.”
I really want my children to talk to their Heavenly Father. I know if they feel the love He has for them they will be able to face whatever life throws at them, because they will know how valuable they are in His eyes. I want the same for myself, I sometimes think “well He already knows everything!” but when I talk to Him about it ALL it is ME that changes, I am the one that has a softer heart, a more willing attitude and its how I can get answers.
The second part that really struck me was:
“The second tool is to study the word of God in the scriptures and the words of the living prophets. We talk to God through prayer. He most often communicates back to us through His written word. To know what the voice of the Divine sounds and feels like, read His words, study the scriptures, and ponder them.5 Make them an integral part of everyday life. If you want your children to recognize, understand, and act on the promptings of the Spirit, you must study the scriptures with them.
Don’t yield to Satan’s lie that you don’t have time to study the scriptures. Choose to take time to study them. Feasting on the word of God each day is more important than sleep, school, work, television shows, video games, or social media. You may need to reorganize your priorities to provide time for the study of the word of God. If so, do it!”
More important than sleep, school, and social media (What?? ;)) So I enlisted Natalie.
Our idea was using simple cork board, some push pins, stickers and wooden letters standing for AM Prayer, Scripture, PM Prayer. When we do each one we move the pin over to the other side. Each day that we do all three we get to move the bottom pin a notch. (Just a motivation, when we’ve gone over all the notches we get a treat and start over.)
I tried to get a photo with a model (even one on the dog since my kids wouldn’t cooperate.)
The kids really like moving the pins- but Jonathan and I just like the physical reminder. I am sure there are other fancier charts out there but this worked for us. (whoo hooo! My second “DIY” post. I am feel SO crafty.)
XO
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