Ok yes, it’s Monday and not Sunday, but yesterday was not quite the calm, peaceful Sunday I had in mind. It never turns out quite like that. We stayed up so late this weekend, and then Sunday is off track after that, dang it. There’s no more writing letters to Max to get ready for Sunday any more, no more checking email every few minutes waiting anxiously for an email would pop up, sending pictures back and forth, and all that goes with that so I feel like there should be more time. Also, our ward congregation is so huge now that we had to change church times from 12:30 to 1:30 in the afternoon so we could utilize every room in the church rather than overlapping with another congregation. I love late church, it just feels like it extends Sunday more. So you’d think things would be all relaxed and I’d be able to organize my Sundays better but it seems like there’s something different to throw it off kilter every week. Isn’t it weird how life just seems to seep in every crevice? No matter how “busy” you think you are, you take one thing off your plate to simplify and other things just seem to seep in to make it just as busy? Same goes for the other way around. I think you can expand to whatever you really set your mind to do (so I obviously need to change my mindset on Sunday mornings…ha!:). Like how with the birth of each new baby things just seem to move around and situate so that it all just works out.
Whoa, sorry lots of rambling thoughts this morning.
What I really want to talk about is something Lucy and I have been reading in our Narnia series (yes, the one that is taking us years to get through!). We are so slow because we’re both reading other things alongside what we read together, but I love love love that we can always just pick up where we left off.
Right now we’re reading the Silver Chair and it’s a beautiful one. We are just over half way through, but I’m loving it and this is what is hitting us both so far:
Jill and Eustace are transported on a new adventure in Narnia and Aslan gives Jill four “signs” to relate to Eustace when they meet up…signs to be followed in order to find the lost Prince.
“I will tell you, Child,” said the Lion. “These are the signs by which I will guide you in your quest…” Jill tells him she’s got it, and He replies, “perhaps you do not see quite as well as you think. But the first step is to remember.” And he goes on to have her repeat the signs. He tells her to remember those signs…”say them to yourself when you wake in the morning and when you lie down at night, and when you wake in the middle of the night. And whatever strange things may happen to you, let nothing turn your mind from following the signs.” Then he gives a warning: “Here on the mountain I have spoken to you clearly: I will not often do so down in Narnia. Here on the mountain, the air is clear and your mind is clear; as you drop down into Narnia, the air will thicken. Take great care that it does not confuse your mind. And the signs which you have learned here will not look at all as you expect them to look, when you meet them there….remember the signs and believe the signs. Nothing else matters.”
This could be interpreted in many ways…of course it’s just a story, but there are so many beautiful gospel things interwoven into C.S. Lewis’s writing and it swells up my heart. Lucy and I loved relating those “signs” to Heaven and all the things we believe we were taught there and should try to remember here on earth. The air thickens here and we do get confused. There is lots to mix us up, so much distraction, and we don’t hear those Heavenly words as clearly as we sometimes hope. The key is to repeat those signs, listen closely to any promptings and guidance we get, and we have to remember. And in order to remember we have to cling to the things that will help us, which I believe are prayer, reading the scriptures, searching the word of God in any way we can to help us in our journey.
It just so happens that this was on my mind when a couple comments wondered why we go through the trouble to do sleepy family devotional in the mornings in this post back HERE. Yes, we’re tired and some days we don’t get as much out of it as others, but I’m so grateful for that time to be together, knitting our minds and our hearts to try to connect with Heaven, to remember the “signs” …all the goodness and light we should be building up and sharing, not only to shine to others but to bring joy into our lives.
Sounds simple, but I believe that’s the purpose of life. To remember to connect to where we came from. And there’s nothing like that built-in time each morning to keep us trying.
I could go on and on about these thoughts…there is so much more about the distractions that come along in Jill and Eustace’s journey, and how although they do get off-track, how they are able to blundering find their way back, sometimes with quiet whisperings to help. I especially love the phrase during a particularly harrowing part of the journey where “Jill took her courage in both hands.” Because sometimes we do need both hands to hold the amount of courage we need in this life!
Yes, there’s so much beauty to study and “remember” but for now I have to run…hoping to remember my own “signs” as I go about this day, and all my days, the things that will make me remember God and listen to the promptings that come my way to seek the best things and not get bothered so much by the distractions that blur the way.
I love that you posted this. Coincidentally, here in Virginia, in the talk (sermon) given Sunday the woman used this very part of the Silver Chair and the idea of signs to talk about one-on-one commandments from God. I must be needing this message to hear it twice in two days!
I don't know why it suddenly published one on one up there. I just meant it to say commandments
I love your posts! I was so impressed with your art knowledge to apply what you were seeing at home to that beautiful picture. I appreciate you sharing your family life. Implementing some of your suggestions have bettered my family. Specifically fast sunday family testimony MTG and goods and bads. Thank you!!
Beautiful. I love this, and I love that you are reading them together even if it’s taking a long time. I am always amazed at the good conversations I have with my kids when we read together and you have just inspired me to read them this series next—even if I am doing it for the next long while!
Thank you for sharing this! I have had the impression for months now that I need to do an fhe on journals and the importance of remembering. It's so important to remember what we learn, what we live, and the spiritual guidance we receive. I often even write down what I'm praying for on any given day – because as ridiculous as it is, I often forget what was in my heart in the morning. But if I write it down and look at it again that night I can see how that prayer has been answered in big and small ways.
My husband has recently decided that he does not believe in our church anymore (lds). It has been a painful road for both of us. He has cried as much as I have, and it hurts me to see how unsure he is about everything at the moment. And while I think he can find answers and strength as he searches for understanding and for God, it makes me want to hold my kids tight and beg them to remember the experiences they've had, the things that they've felt, so that they can continually build on them.
Our memories are sacred. Both the ones from this life and the ones that we only feel from the life before.
And… I now want to read the Silver Chair with my kids:)
Sounds like you need another building for services.
Hopefully the doubts your husband has will cause you and your family to question things a bit yourselves. Just because you were born and raised in a "church" doesn't mean that all it's teachings are correct, fair and good. Do some research – using "secular" research materials, not LDS literature.
Thanks for the thoughts. We studied together from every source imaginable for two years and have come to different conclusions. My views have undergone a shift and my understanding has deepened and broadened. He feels differently
It has been painful but i wouldnt take back what ive learned from his questions for anything. Ive never felt closer to God. If you have any resources youd like to reccommend, im all ears.