General Conference - Always Inspiring

General Conference is over. I imagine all the speakers and choir members must breath a sigh of relief when all is said and done, but oh how grateful I am that they said it and did it! I definitely had things on my mind this weekend, hoping to get some inspiration and answers, and I got it! Lets be honest, with little kids it's hard to hear and pay attention, but every phrase I DID hear seamed to speak to me, ease my mind, or give me the enthusiasm I felt I had been lacking.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that Chocolate On My Cranium had already posted images with quotes from some of the talks given. With 10 kids (including toddlers and a new baby) I don't know how she did it. But I'm glad she did! Here are the links if you would like to take a look -

Saturday General Conference Highlights

Sunday General Conference Highlights
  
I went to bed last night feeling so uplifted and down right determined to be a better mom, a better wife, a better sister, ... you get the idea. I was excited for a new week to start with the new me! Then all three of my kids decided it would be good to wake up at 4 a.m. .... That was obviously way too early for the "new me", so the 'old me' handled it - in a very grumpy way. Thankfully the 'newer me' finally woke up and decided that the whole day was NOT ruined, and since then we have all been having some fun and getting things done, and taking some naps.

Simple Study

As a mother of little kids their are some things that are just hard to do.

 Get a good nights sleep? Not often.

Have the floors clear for more than 5 minutes? Rare.

Have a half hour of quiet time to devote to gospel study? Nope.

If your kids sleep until 7a.m. maybe you have a better window of opportunity to wake up a little earlier for some study time. I have early risers though and waking up before them is not possible. But I have also found that it's not possible for me to go through life without a consistent dose of scripture and gospel topics. It helps me remember what is really important while children are screaming and the place seems to be falling apart despite my best efforts.

Before Thomas was born I found a routine that really worked for me and the kids. They would watch a little PBS show while I spent 5 minutes reading from the scriptures, and then 5 minutes reading from the General Conference edition of the Ensign. These minutes would include underlining, making notes, or just pondering. So really, not much reading was done in one sitting. But it was very effective for me.

Now, with three kids, it's taking me awhile to find a new routine that works for everyone. Most days I'm happy if I can read a few verses of scripture, just something to lean on when I need extra help. But I'm excited to start reading through the Conference talks again. A little bit at a time, doesn't seem like much but it's so important, and makes a big difference in me.