I hesitated to post this...
Afterall, why would I want to announce just one more of my shortcomings? And on the internet, no less?
I concluded that there must be some sort of inspirational thought or hope promoting line about only when we admit our shortcomings can they be turned into strengths.
Yeah...or something like that.
I knew when we started it was a lofty goal. But, I thought that taking on the challenge to read the Book of Mormon in 97 days was a good one. So I asked Addysen if she wanted to do it with me...and Cannon asked if he could join.
Reading the scriptures with my kids -- how could that be anything but a positive experience, right?
In all honesty...it was a good experience. We started by getting up for school a few minutes earlier and read before the kids left. We also read at night before bed. It worked well - -for the most part.
I quickly concluded, however, that reading just to read -- and to make sure we got in our 10 pages a day -- was somehow totally missing the point. The kids wanted to take turns reading and I wasn't about to deny reading practice in any form. Shoot - if you can read the scriptures, you'll certainly be able to read Dr. Suess, Anne of Green Gables and To Kill A Mockingbird, right? But, on most days, the attention span of 4 kids, combined with the various reading abilities...10 pages might as well have been 100.
Anyway, long story short...we did relatively well until school started winding down. Too many late nights, combined with two little girls getting up too early didn't make for great scripture studying. Then, school got out and we pretty much dropped the ball completely. We didn't all get up at the same time, we weren't on a schedule, and bedtime somehow became later and later. Of course, trying to read (and comprehend and discuss) while a very busy 2-year-old was in the room...well, enough said.
So, we didn't hit the 97 day mark. In fact, we didn't even come close.
But, this past Sunday -- we finally finished.
I won't lie. I can't say we saw any major miracles in our family as a result of our efforts. (And believe me, some days, it was an EFFORT!) (Although, that said, I can't know that we didn't experience miracles either.)
My kids still fight. I still lose my patience. Clutter still surrounds us. We eat too much junk and watch too much tv.
But hey, we're trying.
9 comments:
You're awesome! It IS a challenge having young kids that just want to run around when you read...KUDOS TO YOU!
tacie you're too hard on yourself. good job trying and succeeding! your kids are lucky to have you!!!
I am SUPER impressed!! Don't feel bad for falling short. I can't even get it read *by myself,* so doing it with your kids is a HUGE accomplishment. I have a long way to go to catch up with you. (How do you get kids to sit through 10 pages? Hints, please!)
Tace - you're such a great mom and are doing a fantastic job with your kids... If you don't get all the pages you'd hoped for read on a given night.... that's just how it goes sometimes. But you're still setting the tone and establishing habits that will hopefully stay with them for the rest of their lives.
Between our move and Lyndi being born, our family scripture time has been dwindling lately too. Some nights we count ourselves lucky just to get three verses read.
My mantra lately has been a quote from Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin: "We don't have to be fast; we simply have to be steady and move in the right direction."
Love you! :)
I should clarify...I DO consider just finishing an accomplishment. I am NOT beating myself up about the fact that it took us way longer than the original 97 days in the challenge. And, for the record, there were only a few days when we managed to get 10 pages read (and that was reading before school and again before bed!) I quit caring about that...and we just plugged away. But, thanks for all the kind thoughts and words of encouragement...we can always use those!
Hello Tacie! Good job on achieving your goal. Better than late than never. {Like me}
Keep in touch!
I think it's great that you finished! You are my hero!
The whole reading in the morning thing is amazing to me. Mornings are not my thing! (Either are evenings, for that matter.)
You are inspiring me to at least try.
With the way FHE goes around here, I am scared to see what happens with reading the Book of Mormon!
I love the quote that Mitzi put in her comment from Elder Wirthlin! Slow but steady is a good way to be!
Congratulations on goal accomplished!
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