A few weeks ago I went through the church bag that we take for the children to use during Sacrament Meeting. We work to fill it with quiet activities that the children can read or do, while listening to the speakers - with having Sacrament Meeting last it's usually by this time that children can get antsy.
Our bag looks very different than when the children were younger - now it's filled mostly with reading material and a few notebooks for taking notes, or drawing a picture during a talk. One of the favorite items of the bag are 'The Friend' magazines --- the children love this magazine and read it cover to cover each month, and usually read it more than once!
While trying to find something new to put into the bag, and still maintaining the activities that are quiet and reinforce gospel teaching, my mind went to a bookshelf in our living room where I had stowed the scripture readers. These are books for each of the scriptures where the stories are depicted in small squares with pictures and a brief overview of the main stories in each book of scripture. We used these with the children when they were younger for our scripture time, but we haven't read from them in almost 3 or so years...since Bryson Jr. started to read and once Jacob could repeat at least the basic sight words.
Putting these books into our church bag, I believe was not a coincidence, but a prompting speaking to my mind. I have been amazed at how both of the boys love to read the books, but how it has been particularly captivating to Jacob. He will sit there through almost all of Sacrament Meeting reading through this book. We've had a few people around us comment on how amazed they are with how he stays immersed in reading through this book during church - for a 6 yr. old that still has a lot of energy I have been pleasantly surprised myself! It's been a blessing, as for whatever reason this same 6 yr. old has been putting up a bit of a fuss when we do our nightly family scripture study. He wants to get up and walk around, he buries his head into the couch when it comes to his turn to read, and he gets rather whiny during our family reading time. However, his reading of the illustrated version is something that he loves, and the stories are staying in his mind. The other day we were talking about making good choices, and he told me that Alma was someone who made good choices, but that Zeezrom was wicked...right Mom? I'm absolutely thrilled that these stories are the ones he is choosing to read, and that he is remembering them!
Not only has Jacob chosen to read these through at church, but he reads them at home. I have had them sitting out on our glass table in the living room, moving some of them from the bookshelf now knowing that he is so interested in them. I'll find him sitting on the couch plowing through the stories, and when I ask him to join us for something he'll beg to be able to finish the chapter he is on. Really?! He has really picked up on reading this past year and loves it, but now he is begging to stay reading the scriptures?! Pinch me. I hope that we can keep this as a habit always - especially during his teenage years!
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