5 Ways to Make More Time for Scriptures

I saw a great blog post this morning from Al Fox Carraway (@22AlFox) in which she talks about five ways to make more time for the scriptures. I love how she testifies that it is the fact that you are reading each day that brings added blessings and strength!

To read her entire blog post, click HERE

These are her five ways. (I have highlighted the things that stuck out the most to me.)

1. Read every day. Set a specific time to read that will work for you daily and make it a habit. Lunchtime, kids naptime, before school/work-even if it means setting your alarm a little bit earlier. I prefer to read as soon as I wake up, when the world is quiet but the spirit is not—breakfast for me and breakfast for my soul.

2. Don't limit yourself how much to read. Instead of saying I'll read X amount of versus a day and stop, just read until you can't anymore for whatever reason.

3. It's ok to read more than once a day. What?! I know. And it will be huge contrast in yourself and your life when you do this. And do you know how much you can gain if you watch just one less episode on Netflix? Or how much you can get from a few versus while you’re waiting for your water to boil? Or waiting in the car for your friend/kid to come out.

4. Keep a Book of Mormon everywhere. I know a lot of you are big on the gospel library app, which is great, but I'm talkin' hard copies so you can see it and be reminded of it in times when you wouldn't otherwise. (You can get them for free from the missionaries, or if you live in high populated member areas, D.I. and thrift stores have some awesome, vintage ones from the 70's for a quarter). Keep one in your bathroom, your kitchen counter, bedside, pocket-sized ones are perfect for your car and your purse.

5. Start over. When you finish, celebrate and be excited! Soak it in. Gloat a little even to yourself for accomplishing it. But then turn it right back to page 1 and start from the beginning. A week or a month or the start of next year are not appropriate lengths for parties.

"I seriously rely on it so much every day. I am not me without them. I am short tempered and lost without them. I am weak and hurting without them. Scriptures heal a hurting heart and a wounded soul. I know the power behind them. It’s real."


Isn't that wonderful! I love her testimony and I echo it! I know that the scriptures bring strength to us in ways that we cannot begin to understand, and I am grateful that the scriptures are available to us in so many wonderful ways! Each day that I read them, I know that I have made myself available to the blessings of the Spirit! I love and value and treasure that feeling!!

Ponderizing

I loved the talk given by Devin Durrant, of the Seventy, during October 2015 General Conference. He talked about studying the scriptures by using a combination of pondering and memorizing. That formula is perfectly suited for Scripture Mastery! In my Seminary class we quickly adapted it to our weekly study of each of the Scripture Mastery scriptures.

We focus on different aspects of Scripture Mastery as we go through the days of the week.  On Mondays, we use ideas that help us remember the reference for the scripture.  Tuesday, we work on memorizing the scripture.  Wednesday we study the context and content of the scripture.  This is where the pondering comes in.  (I will provide some examples in a moment.)  Thursday we talk about the application of the scripture.  We discuss different ways to apply the principles to our lives and then we make an individual goal that we are going to focus on for the rest of the week.  Friday we play a challenging game that helps us remember and learn more.

When we go over context and content, I write the scripture on the board and I let the students discuss the things that stand out, words that they need to look up the definitions, what they can add cross-references to, etc..  It is my favorite part of our ponderization process.  Here are several of our studies:

A sticky note from one of my Seminary students

This was one of the sticky notes that one of my students left on the "What stuck with you this week?" board.  This makes my heart happy!!

Seeing new things

One of the things that I LOVE about reading the scriptures over and over is that you see new things each time.  I have read the Bible several times and this last week I found a scripture there I had never seen before.

1 Samuel 3:19 ~ "And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground."

That verse really stood out to me this time around!  What it said to me is that we should be so careful and respectful to the words that the Lord gives us that we should let none of them fall to the ground, or fall from our notice, focus and understanding.

How can we treat His words that carefully and respectfully?  I wrote many ideas in my scriptures:

...elevate, share, honor, obey, sustain, testify, teach, believe, listen, pray, cherish, ponder, study, journal...

What other words can you think of?

[re]SOLUTIONS for 2016

I have made my goals for the year, and one of them is to read the Book of Mormon every day. Studying the Old Testament for Seminary this last year, I have let my Book of Mormon study get a little lax. 

I love the quote from Pres. Ezra Taft Benson about the Book of Mormon:

"There is a power in the [Book of Mormon] which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path. The scriptures are called “the words of life” (D&C 84:85), and nowhere is that more true than it is of the Book of Mormon. When you begin to hunger and thirst after those words, you will find life in greater and greater abundance." (The Book of Mormon -- Keystone of Our Religion", General Conference, October 1986)

I need life in greater abundance right now.  I need the blessings that come from a focus on the Book of Mormon! I need to de-stress.  I know that I will find greater strength and ability through my focus on the Book of Mormon!