Discover What Feeds Your Soul

I have recently felt more of a desire to discover what feeds my soul, and do it. I sometimes feel tired and overwhelmed trying to keep up with life. I have felt prompted to simply discover the simple joys in life. I feel that as I discover what feeds my soul, I can be more focused in becoming my best self, and inspire my children in the process. So what am I slowly discovering? Here is a list! I love lists!

TIME IN NATURE 

I always feel refreshed after spending time in nature. I'm often amazed how much nature is right in our back yard, literally! I few minutes tending to the garden can do so much for my soul. We love bike rides, hikes, and nature walks. We daily take an hour or so to just be outside and enjoy Heavenly Father's amazing creations. 

QUALITY TIME WITH MY FAMILY 

I don't need expensive trips or very organized activities to feel happy with my family. We keep it pretty simple around here. Hiking and bike rides are just so simple and fun! We love our family movie night, service opportunities, and playing games together. I love when we are all happy to build our friendships with each other. 

EXERCISE 

In the last year I have realized I need to exercise every day to recharge. It's easier said than done with four little ones around! But the awesome thing is that I also discovered my kids desperately need an hour or two of physical activity to be happy and have a successful day with more energy and less tantrums, and a less hectic bed time. It's great that we have discovered we all need the same thing, so we make it happen together. Often the kids ride their bikes while I jog behind them with the baby. It's not always easy, but it's very necessary. 

SEEING MY CHILDREN HAPPY

I cherish the moments when I see the joy in my children's faces. When we are serving each other and spending quality time I see their little faces light up. These moments happen only amidst the hustle and bustle of our crazy lives, but I love these tender moments. 

ATTENDING THE TEMPLE 

Recently I had a moment where I was able to realize that in order to do something to help myself recharge, I need to attend the temple. I had the opportunity to go and I felt so much peace. It's such a wonderful place. It's always a good idea to go to make the time to go to the temple. 

PRAYER AND SCRIPTURES 

I constantly need a reminder to keep up with my scripture study. I know that every time I establish a good prayer and scripture reading routine I feel more connected spiritually. 

EATING GOOD HEALTHY FOOD

Its interesting that I have realized that eating good food not only feeds my body, but also my soul. My mind and body function best when I have nourished it with healthy whole foods. 

  

UPLIFTING CONVERSATION WITH LOVED ONES 

I have a handful of loved ones that are always there to listen, and give love and advice. The mark of a good friend to me is one that uplifts me and helps me become a better person. Having meaningful conversation with those I love is one of the big ways I feed my soul. 

READING GOOD STORIES 

We as a family, have been delving into many classic stories and books. I have felt these stories come alive as we read with our hearts. There are so many children's books lately that have offered so many opportunities for learning life lessons. A few ones I have personally loved recently are:

Farmer Boy, Little House on the Prarie, The Secret Garden, Little Women, and Little Men

Nature is the best teacher

We have recently decided to try and get out in nature more often. It's amazing how much nature you can experience so close to home. We packed up our bags including our microscope, some field guides, books, and notebooks and headed to our closet nature trail. 

We were excited to see hundreds and hundreds of snails. We talked about decomposers and the habitat that is necessary for certain critters to live in. 

We found different varieties of moss.

We even saw a tree that had been struck by lightning and fallen down from the storm the night before. 

We saw a huge black slug.

The highlight was seeing these cute mini frogs hopping around.

We were able to identify some wildflowers and birds. We saw cardinals, golfinches, black vultures, and barn swallows. We were able to collect some standing water and saw many interesting algae and Protista under the microscope. I love that learning from nature is so natural and effortless, not to mention fun and refreshing! 

The Book of Mormon: The Cornerstone of Our Home

We have been trying to get down to basics in our home and this has been a blessing that has helped improve the relationships in our home and bring more peace and the Spirit in our lives, but challenges still come. This is part of life.

Recently, we had some struggles with one of our children feeling angry, sad, and down more often than usual. We really did not know why this was happening, much less what to do about it. We tried to implement different communication tactics, lots of love and patience, and more predictability in our routines. These were all great strategies, but I personally felt something was missing and just couldn't figure it out. We approached the matter with much prayer and fasting.

I had a thought that I acknowledge as a direct impression from Heavenly Father to read the Book of Mormon with the kids every day. I must admit, this seemed like a nearly impossible task seeing that my kids are 7, 5,3, and 1, only one of them can actually read, and they just don't have the attention span that I had considered necessary for daily scripture study from the actual Book of Mormon. We began reading every day. Every morning after our morning routine of breakfast, family work, getting dressed and brushing teeth, we all sat down, each with their own set of scriptures, and we read from the Book of Mormon. I read, or my oldest would read, and the rest of the kids just naturally started repeating what we said! I was amazed at how much they enjoyed "reading" from their own scriptures. Each even kept a post it tag as a book mark in their own book. We read as little as one verse of scripture a day and as much as three of four verses. We stopped and I explained what we were reading and told them the meaning of any new words. We have continued this process for a few months now, reading  from the Bible as well for a week and a half before Easter, with powerful spiritual experiences as well. I know we have felt the Spirit reading the scriptures together. I have never read the Book of Mormon so slowly, and I know I have gained new insights from really pondering each word so carefully.

We have all felt the powerful influence of the Book of Mormon in our home. My child who was having a difficult time, has dramatically improved since the day we started reading. I know that was a direct answer to prayer for this particular struggle. My three year old has even used scripture language in her prayers "And it came to pass, Jesus loves Me!". I had my doubts that anything was actually sinking in with the younger ones, but I know they have felt the Spirit, they are learning more of the Book of Mormon stories straight from the source, and I also recognize they are excited to read and improving their reading skills as well. I have even caught my seven year old, all on his own, reading scriptures, marking them, and copying them in his notebook.

I can say that I have a testimony of the divinity of the Book of Mormon and the power it has to answer prayers, bring the Spirit in our home, help with any problem or struggle, and be a true blessing in the lives of people. I have seen this in our home once again. What a beautiful gift, and a wonderful promise!

3 Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do. (2 Nephi 32:3)

The Wonderful Power of Listening Material

Sometimes life can get pretty busy, especially with little ones in the home. I am always looking for ideas to make our home a more peaceful place. One of the things that we have decided is to almost eliminate screen time. Most days we don't even turn on the t.v. Instead we have found the amazing power of listening material.  I am all for free learning material and we have discovered a few audio tools that are really fun and helpful in our home. These tools and materials have been a great blessing in our lives recently, not only for helping us learn new concepts, but for bringing the Spirit into our home.

1. Audio books on CD and E audio books

At our library we have the ability to put books on hold and go pick them up when they are ready. We have loved reserving some great books on CD. Our most recent one was The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. We put some of these books on as we work on projects or play. They have also been a HUGE hit at quiet time for my seven year old. We purchased a portable CD player "walkman" style, for him to listen to audio CDs for quiet time. He listened to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in three days!

Our library also has another resource called OverDrive. It's an app you can use to download E audio books onto your device. I love listening to books with the kids, and I am even currently enjoying listening to Little Women as I make and clean up dinner.

2. Podcasts

We downloaded a podcast app and we are really enjoying a podcast called Brains On. It is geared toward kids. The radio show is really entertaining and educational. We all love it! We have also enjoyed a podcast called Story Nory in the past.

3. Mormon Channel app and Gospel Library app

We love listening to Scripture Stories (a program for kids), 24/7 talk, 24/7 music, on the Mormon channel app. On the Gospel Library app I really enjoy listening to the talks suggested as I study and prepare for my lessons at church for Young Women. We have recently also liked listening to The Friend Magazine on the Gospel Library app as we eat breakfast. It makes a great devotional.

We use my ipad and a portable blue tooth speaker. I can take it anywhere we are. I also recommend a portable CD player and headphones for those audio books on CD during quiet time. These free tools have truly been ejoyed by all my little ones and myself. My children are asking questions and their faces light up to hear new fun information. I can see their love of learning grow as we use these resources in our home.