Become as a Child

A few months before this picture was taken, when Brooke was three-years old, I began reading scriptures to her everyday. We also read other books, but we made sure that reading scriptures, were priority. After a couple years of reading the 100 page synopsis of the Book of Mormon ( Another testament of Jesus Christ ) , one day we lost our book mark. Brooke said to me, " I know where we were reading at! " and she quickly turned to the correct chapter in the book, and started reviewing the whole chapter with me. She kept telling me what was happening on each page. After she read a few chapters explaining the pages, I realized that it was time to read the New Testament. After she knows The New Testament, very well, we will read the Old Testament, and of course then back to the Book of Mormon, since all three of these books together, create a perfect witness of Christ.

As we were reading the New Testament, our conversation turned to Joseph and Mary leaving, to go to Bethlehem for Jesus to be born, and then leaving to go to Egypt. Brooke asked why they needed to leave, and although she already new the answer, and although she had heard this story many times, I re-explained that King Herod, ordered all the baby boys to be killed , in his fear that he would loose his power, since it was prophesied that Jesus would be born, and become king of the Jews.

I was surprised to see Brooke's eyes fill with tears, and her voice became shaky as she said, " But the poor little babies, what did he do? Come with a horse to their house, and take the baby from the family. Then put the baby in a cage, on the back of the horse? " Her tender spirit, was feeling empathy for these babies. I almost teared up myself to see her so upset. She had never been upset by this story before, but this time, she could relate more, having such a close experience having a baby brother now. Then Brooke's determination for the positive came out, and she started making all kinds of reasons why some of these babies were okay. She said, " I think that some of the Mom's put their babies in a basket, and then they put flowers over the baby, so that no one would know, that there was a baby in the basket." Then she said, " Or I bet that some of the Dad's made a tunnel in the ground and the Mommy and baby boy hid in the tunnel, and no one even knew that they lived there." Then she said, " Or may be some other Mom's just snuck away, to another land, where everyone was nice and no one was bad."  I agreed with her that all of these things, were definitely something that someone could do in that situation.

This experience with Brooke reminded me of my favorite scripture in the Book of Mormon. I was eleven years old,  in myseminary class, when my seminary teacher challenged us to find a favorite scripture that year, during our scripture study. And he asked us to memorize it. I found my scripture early in the year, I wasn't sure why then, but I know now why, this scripture stuck out to me.

Mosiah 3:19

For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the holy spirit and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint, through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things, which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.

I see it every day now that I am a Mother,  how perfect little children are, and how willing they truly are, to submit to the will of their father. They want to please their father. They are full of love, with empathy, and charity to every one. Even people from a story, that they have never even met. They are so quick to forgive us adults, when we become impatient.

It is not natural for us to want to be this loving, humble, and submissive to the Lord's will in our lives, but it can be done, if we have faith, and we ask for help, the Lord will send help from family, a neighbor, a friend and if we submit our desires to him, and strive to be like these little children that we love, our lives will truly be joyful, and that is all our Father in Heaven wants for us, for us to be joyful, and he knows how we can be.