A Snuggle With Heavenly Father

My two year old daughter loves to connect with us before going to bed. I think that’s normal for most children in her situation. It’s hard to feel comforted when the people you feel most connected to in all the world aren’t around. And kids just need a lot of comfort sometimes in order for them to fall asleep.

One of the things my daughter loves more than anything else in the world before bed is a snuggle with mommy or daddy. Sometimes the snuggles can go on and on and over and over throughout the night before she goes to sleep. But one thing is for sure: a good snuggle and a story about mommy and daddy are key ways for her to feel the comfort and connection she needs to know that we are still here, that she can go to sleep, and that we will still be here when she wakes up.

One morning not long ago she woke up well before it was time to wake up – just about the time I try to get up to do my morning scripture study. Well I couldn’t just let her sit there in the dark talking to herself, so I got her up and had her join me on the couch in our living room. I told her she could sit right next to me and read a book while I read the scriptures before we started getting ready for the day. Then came the infamous two year old question:

Why? Why you read the scriptures Daddy?

As anyone with a two year old knows you have to be quick witted to answer such questions in a satisfactory way for the child and before I knew it the following reply came tumbling out of my mouth:

You know how you like to snuggle with mommy or daddy before you go to sleep so you can feel connected to us? Reading the scriptures is like snuggling with Heavenly Father. I read the scriptures so I can feel connected to Heavenly Father.

I hadn’t thought of it in those terms before that moment, but that is the truth. Reading the scriptures can be like a snuggle with God – a time for connecting with our Heavenly Father when we get to hear His voice telling us important stories and ideas that will help guide us and bring us comfort in our lives, giving us courage to keep moving forward and strive to be like Jesus, and ultimately leading us back into His presence. At least (I realize now) that is how I have always used the scriptures: To snuggle with God, to feel close to Him, and to hear whatever messages and stories He has to give me at any given time of my life.

Two year olds are amazing creatures. I’m grateful mine asked me why I read the scriptures. She helped remind me why I keep doing this day after day, week after week, year after year.

How about you. Why do you read the scriptures?

Published by Russty

I remember my first truly sacred experience when I was 12 years old. The next was somewhere around 14. My teenage years after that - after beginning a life-long study of the LDS canon of scripture - was chalked full of sacred experience after sacred experience which have developed in me a love for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and a devotion to His teachings as taught in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Because of those experiences as a young man I can say for sure that Jesus Christ lives today and is the Son of the Living God. He atoned for me and has "redeemed my soul from hell." It was in those years that I learned for myself that the Book of Mormon is the true word of God. That came to be a huge social battle for one young as I was growing up in the Bible belt. I spent those years trying to live my life in such a way that people would know that I was a follower of Christ only to find out after years of hanging out with my friends that none of them believed I was Christian. This was devestating to me, a young man simply trying to show a good example as a follower of Christ. I felt like I had failed. It was only after serving my two year mission for the LDS Church that I realized the reason for their opinion was simply because our definition of what it meant to be Christian was drastically different. For me it had been about following Christ and living His teachings. For them it was whether or not my beliefs fell within their narrowly defined window of what they believed about God and Jesus Christ. I realize now that I was doomed to fail from the beginning! It was in those years while I was trying to show people that I was a follower of Christ - facing opposition from friend, minister, and teacher alike - that I began studying the scriptures not just to understand His Gospel, but to come to understand answers to the challenges I was being presented with. In short I became as much of a Mormon apologist as a teenage boy with little education could ever become. But I at least had the scriptures and and the guidance of truly devoted and inspired friends and teachers - and that was all I needed. It is this pattern of questioning and searching for answers which has informed all of my scripture study and learning over the years of my life since then. My research and understanding of the Gospel, the Church, The Book of Mormon, and Joseph Smith have all grown and expanded because of that constant and consistent devotion to studying. And they will all continue to do so - for the knowledge of God is infinite and there is no way in the life to learn it all. This blog is an outlet for all I have learned and considered over the years of my Gospel study. I have found - as many people who have come to know the teachings of Christ the way I have - that when the Word is a part of one's soul he or she cannot escape the desire to share It. So share it I do. There are imperfections and missing pieces in what I write, but all in all I truly feel the Lord has blessed me with the one thing I have desired more than almost anything else: a well rounded understanding of His doctrine and truth as He has given to us at this point. Please forgive my imperfections for this blog is as much about improving myself and my own knowledge and faith in God and Christ as it is for helping anyone else do the same.

Warm Fuzzies

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2 thoughts on “A Snuggle With Heavenly Father”

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  1. Russ, thank you for sharing this. As always, I find new nuggets of wisdom and understanding each time I read one of your posts. I love to come here and learn how you see the Gospel! You have a very special spirit! Thank you again for sharing this with us all.

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