30-second scripture study

Our cousin by marriage writes frequent article for the Mormon Times. I especially loved this one and wanted to share it with all of you. You can read the whole article here: http://mormontimes.com/ME_blogs.php?id=1179

The 30-second scripture studyBy Tiffany Gee Lewis Scripture study falls at a tenuous time in our home. Right as the kids are scraping the last of dinner off their plates, I motion to Seth."Quick, grab the scriptures before the boys all slip away."He places a Book of Mormon in front of each of the kids, more as a token than anything else, because they can't really read yet. Then, next to the scriptures goes a cookie.

We want our three boys to remember scripture study as an enjoyable time, so we have a family saying: "The gospel is sweet, just like a treat." What that cookie means it that we have about five bites' worth of time to bring in a gospel message. We are reading the scriptures daily, but it's slow going. We've been with King Benjamin on his tower for nearly a month now, and we still have a ways to go before we climb down.Some nights, the vibrations in the air tell us that two verses are enough. If we're on a particularly poignant passage, sometimes I'll slip the kids another cookie. But there are nights when Seth and I finish reading only to find that our entire clan of stripling warriors has fled to the hills. It's on those nights that we shake our heads and wonder: Why bother trying? All this teeth pulling and cajoling just to read a few verses that they won't understand? We press on because (1) it's a commandment, (2) it's establishing a habit and (3) it's establishing a memory. Even if my kids don't remember what we read, I hope they'll remember that we did read, that we sat with sweetness on our lips and read gospel words in the waning hours of the day. Just as I hope they'll remember the feeling of listening to General Conference in a darkened chapel, I hope they'll remember the voice of their parents reading "I Nephi, having been born of goodly parents...and my soul hungered...How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings...And now my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer...which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men...and I even remain alone to write the sad tale of destruction of my people...And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God...And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things." I hope, even though they don't understand their depth now, that they feel the power and majesty of those words, and as they begin to read themselves, as they trip over the "heretofores" and "whosoevers," that the distinct and elegant phrasing of scriptural verse will be etched in their mind. And once in a while there will be moments of clarity, like the time we were talking as a family about how, before the advent of the printing press, books had to be copied out by hand. "Scriptures and other books were very valuable because they were all written out by hand," I told the kids.I could see the wheels turning in Jackson's head. Jackson is in kindergarten, and writing for him has been an exercise in patience. He and the eraser have become good pals. "Mom," he asked me finally, "when they copied the scriptures, did they ever make mistakes?" These are the kind of questions a mother loves to answer. "Yes!" I said jumping up from the table. "They did make mistakes. Sometimes it was an accident, but sometimes it was done purposely. If they didn't like what the scriptures said, they changed them." What followed was a memorable teaching moment about the importance of having a second witness, the Book of Mormon, to help clarify truth obscured in the Bible. And for a 5-year-old who struggles with imperfections in his own writing, this made sense. These moments when the stars align in real gospel truth are rare, but they make the frenetic minutes worth it. They are the lingering sweetness of the scriptures, like cookie crumbs around the mouth.