S11's Scripture Questions

The oldest 4 girls and I are reading and journaling our way through The Book of Mormon.  Each of us has a composition book, Book of  Mormon, and a reading chart.  We read and either write about what we've read or copy a scripture we particularly liked in that day's reading. 

Without fail the kids have all chosen to copy a scripture . . . every day.

I wanted to fuss a little, but I held my tongue, and I'm glad.  Though the kids sometimes are thoughtless about what they copy, and they're often clearly searching for the shortest possible verse, at least they're copying the word of God.

Once in a while as I check off their work, I'll add in a tiny comment:

"That's beautiful."

"How sad"

"This verse makes me want to grow a garden!"

Nothing astute or fabulous or insightful--just a little something more than a check mark on the top of the page. 

Over time the kids began to write little notes back to me:

"It makes me happy, too."

"I hope I don't make this same mistake."

"I want a garden, too."

I've been tickled to have this small bit of communication over the scriptures.  We talk about the scriptures all the time as a family, but there's been something special about these little, written notes.

And then "special" grew to profound. 

Yesterday S11 copied 2 verses and asked me a question.  A real, probing question that showed that though the verses were short, she was reading and thinking.  A question that showed that she knew I read her words and would care about them.  A question to which I was happy to spend time writing an answer in her journal.

She's got a good heart, my S11. 

These scripture journals are the beginning of something better than I ever knew.

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