Recognizing The Spirit

As I read the story of Rebekah and Isaac and then Rebekah and Jacob, a few things stood out to me. Once again, like all of these women, Rebekah had a lot of courage. It may have been "the thing" back then to marry someone you had never seen in your life, but I'm sure that didn't make it easy! And to leave your family, possibly forever? With such a willing heart. Between that and the story of her helping Jacob to receive the blessings from his father, I feel like Rebekah was a woman who was very in tune with the Spirit. She would have to have been in order to have so much faith to leave her family, and to know how to help her son. 

As women and mothers it is so important that we are in tune with the spirit, and teach our children how to be in tune as well. I read a talk by Vicki F. Matsumori called "Helping Others Recognize the Whisperings of the Spirit" Here are some things that stood out to me:

-Even though we are given the gift of the Holy Ghost, it isn't always as natural and obvious as we would like it to be to recognize when we are feeling the spirit

-It helps others when we bear our testimonies of the Holy Ghost and explain how it makes us feel

-It is important for us personally to have quiet time where we can listen, pray, and learn (even if it's at 11:00 at night or during precious nap time!!)

-We should also provide a similar environment for our children. It's hard to turn off the tv and the music and everything entertaining, but that is what distracts us from feeling the spirit sometimes.

I really liked this talk. It reminded me that even simple gospel principals need to be explicitly taught in our homes. These sweet babies of ours are starting at square one with their gospel knowlege! It's kind of feels like a lot of pressure, but if we just do it one day at a time and just take every opportunity to teach, it'll come.