One the most beautiful things about being an adoptive parent is that God occasionally gives me these moments of confirmation where I know that I am supposed to be their mother. These feelings that touch from one end of eternity to another, where I can feel the hand of God in all things …
Tonight we were trying to clean up from dinner, and get ready for nightly scripture reading. There were reports of a wasp or bee in the house, but it had disappeared for the moment. I’m directing traffic while cleaning up in the kitchen. My son is thinking aloud, but not really complaining.
He said, “You know, I don’t know why I have to read the Book of Mormon, I already read it. Except that the prophets have asked us to. Mom, why do we read our scriptures every day? Is it because God wants us to have a testimony of Jesus Christ and the others [prophets]?”
Just then, the wasp appeared and was circling the light. I tried swatting it with a flip-flop while urging my kids to get the dog out of the kitchen. Then, being the hero that I am, I grabbed the bug spray and shot the wasp. It dropped to the ground still fluttering around, and bug spray started dripping from the light from the ceiling to the tile floor.
This entertained my children immensely. After smacking the wasp with the flip-flop, clean up started. Holding the mop in one hand, I looked at my son and said,
“Can I finish?”
“Okay.”
“Do you brush your teeth every day? We read the scriptures every day even though we’ve done it before. Heavenly Father wants to remind us every day about His Son so that we can get back to live with Him someday. Not only that, but I believe that the scriptures are sacred.
I believe the prophets were inspired to write the scriptures in a way that when we read them it opens a conduit right to Heaven, like the internet. Even if I’ve read a verse a hundred times, I can read it again and get answers to my life that I need. Or I read a scripture, and suddenly I understand it in a way I didn’t before. The scriptures open our hearts to receive the answers Heavenly Father needs us to hear. Do you understand?”
(Pause) (He nodded.)
Feeling the sudden confirmation of eternity, I ended with, “And I also know that I am supposed to be your Mom. I think that question was one of the reasons why.”
So, we finished wiping the light and mopping the floor so the bug spray wouldn’t kill the dog or the kids. We did read our scriptures. Afterward, my son asked if he could share something that he had learned from his Primary teacher, Mosiah 18:10,
“10 Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?”
And then, like a junior missionary, he started asking us questions about the verse and shared the Spanish words from his return-missionary Primary teacher (loosely translated by me – using the very little Spanish I picked up in the mission field since I was assigned to English speaking)
“What is impeding you?” What is impeding you from getting baptized? What is stopping you? Don’t you want more blessings?
I said, “That’s funny. I never thought of this before, but that scripture doesn’t just apply to getting baptized. It also applies to the rest of your life. What is impeding you? What help do you need? Then what should you do to get help?”
My son replied, “Repent.”
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“Yes! And serve, and keep His commandments, and then the blessings and answers you need will pour out upon you. See! It has two meanings.”
My dear brothers and sisters who might be reading this, I have a testimony of the Book of Mormon. I know we can benefit from regular scripture reading. Even if we aim to read every day, but succeed only 3 or 4 times a week – what an improvement you will see in your home!
I also have a testimony of adoption and parenthood. Both processes are crazy and hectic and eye-opening and beautiful. I know that teaching in our homes happens in small beautiful moments every day, somewhere between doing the dishes and squashing wasps. And we need to pay attention.
Molly is on a life long quest to figure herself out. Born to be and educated as an aerospace engineer she is also blessed to be a wife and a mom of two in the present, previously served as a full-time missionary, is consistently called to teach the youth in her ward, is eagerly though slowly doing home improvement as money and time allow, all while gradually learning how to be herself and find peace and balance somewhere in between.
Despite her attempts to make “the right” decisions in her life, she has learned to deal with some unexpected challenges over the last two decades. Total tornadoes, really. What she has discovered is that her career has taught her a lot about the Gospel and being a better mother, and the Gospel, when applied to challenges at the office, has made her a better professional. She has also learned that it is okay to be herself, and God still loves (and forgives) her for it.
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