milk & honey mamas

Nephi’s interpretation of Isaiah, written for children by Kristen:

Dear one, where do you go when you are sad, or hurt, or worried? What brings you comfort? 

You know, Nephi got sad and worried too. He was very worried, because he loved his family so very much. He wanted them to know how much he cared about them. He wanted them to be safe and protected, because he knew he wouldn’t always be around to protect them himself. And he knew that sometimes life can be very cruel. When Nephi had these worries, he opened his favorite book, the one made of brass. Remember this one? Nephi stole it from Jerusalem when he was still just a boy. It had meant everything to his father, and now it meant everything to him. On days when the worry rose up in his stomach all the way into his throat, he opened his book and he turned to his favorite chapters written by his favorite writer. Isaiah. 

He read and he read and he read, and he thought and he prayed and he listened until the worry wasn’t so heavy in his heart and his throat didn’t feel so tight with fear. Isaiah’s words reminded him of where he had come from. 

Even though you are far from Jerusalem, you are still God’s chosen people. God’s promises are meant for you, and God always keeps his promises. 

Even though your family is divided, and even though there will be dark days and nights of sadness, God knows you. God will bring you safely through. The sadness and the division will not last forever. One day, the scattered will be gathered. One day, all hurts will be healed. One day, you will see your brothers again. 

Isaiah’s words are hard for us to understand. But they were not hard for Nephi to understand. To Nephi, they were like a letter written just to him. That’s because God speaks to us as friends. And what seems perfectly obvious to you might be very confusing to me. It’s okay if Isaiah’s words sound a bit confusing to us. The important thing to remember is that Nephi believed the words could heal his people. That’s why he read them over and over, and why he spent day after day writing them down for his children to read and remember. Because as Nephi grew old he still prayed the prayer his father had left him, whispering it soft and low as he wrote letters to his children and hoped for their future:

You, too, are part of this story. You, too, are ushered into this great covenant. My child, as I die, I bless you to know you are Israel.

Ideas for Play

Contributed by Kristen

• Talk again about the covenant Nephi believed in. How are we part of that covenant?

• Try this video about the abrahamic covenant 

• Explore the meaning of covenants – maybe use a blanket or a rope to link your family together to illustrate how a covenant binds us 

• Write down some of your favorite verses from Isaiah! Maybe try tracing/copying/illustrating them like you’re Nephi and displaying in your home 

• What does it mean to be part of Israel? 

• Explore what it might have been like for Nephi to be far from home. Try some books:
  • When the Stars Came Home
  • You are Home 

• What bridges did Nephi find to link his old home with his new one? What bridges have you crossed? What links do you hold on to?

Music

Compiled by Caroline

The Covenant, Shawna Edwards

Art

Compiled by Caroline

Poetry

Compiled by Caroline

Poetry:

Excerpts from “A Liturgy for Leaving a Loved Home” from Every Moment Holy Volume III

O Lord, you are our dwellig place. 

You are our dwelling place

in this life and the next. 

And yet, in your great kindness, you give us

dwellling places on earth, physical homes, spaces

which migh shadow our at-homeness in you. 

In this house we have tasted 

something of the safety and permanence

of our relationship with you. We have known

your goodness in everyday comforts

and in sensory pleasures, 

and every corner of this place

is hallowed by some memory of your unfailing love and faithfulness. 

We rejoice, Lord Christ, that you have gone 

ahead to prepare a place for us in our Father’s

house. We celebrate the fact that, when you 

come again, you will gather us safely into that

home. We encourage our hearts with the hope

that the truths we have tasted in this place

will be perfectly realized in that place. 

And until that time, Holy Father, 

be home to us in the wilderness of this world,

enlivening any space we inhabit

with the unseen lamp of your presence. 

For where you are is home, and from you

there will be no leave-taking. 

Amen.