Question Journals

We've added a new element into family life here at the Layton household in the past few weeks...Question Journals.  It started as a way to cope as a mother.  It's a wonderful thing for kids to have questions.  It's not a wonderful thing for a mother to feel like I need to answer all the questions.  I admit I get frustrated when I probably shouldn't because I want to help them and have great discussions, but it doesn't always work that way.  I just have run out of brain power--plain and simple.  And, the older the kids get the more I just have to answer, "I have no idea!" to the questions they come up with.  So, to make the question journey fun and to alleviate motherhood stress and guilt, we came up with the Question Journal.  Each family member (who can write :-)) has a composition book where he/she writes questions as they pop into his/her mind.  Then, we each research the questions we have and report back to the family as part of meal conversations or devotional time.  It has been fun. We have learned some interesting things as a family and have fostered the process of exploring our questions to find answers.  Some of the questions have been:

What does a cicada look like?
What is the country between Austria and Switzerland? (From the Ticket to Ride map)
What does the marrow in our bones do?
How fast is one knot?
What is milk thistle herb used for?
How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?
What are fractals?
What's wrong with our tomato plants?
What's the plant with the purple flowers in the back yard called?
Where were Joseph Smith's ancestors at the time of the American Revolution?
What kind of rock/crystal is this I found?
How much sugar does the average American consume today?
What is the difference between a frog and a toad?
What does a ginger plant look like?
What does UPS stand for?
Where is Singapore?
Where did Columbus land?
How do I make brown sugar if I don't have it for a recipe?
How old is Thomas S. Monson?
How many teaspoons are in a tablespoon?
What does "perplexities" mean?
Who was the creator of Veggie Tales?

To jump start the process, we told the kids they each get to do a dinner date with Mom and Dad when they have answered 10 questions.  It took Bryce less than two weeks to earn his date.  The others are coming along.  I love the discussions that have come from this, and the shift in finding answers to questions.  It's a little thing, but it is teaching the process of exploration that is so important as they move forward in their lives and each continue in their own journey of identity development.  It has encouraged me to follow through with my own questions when I might otherwise have gotten distracted and not researched the answers.

This change has paralleled the lesson Todd and I taught at Youth Conference for our stake about what sources we look to in our spiritual journey.  I believe God loves questions.  I believe He plants them within us to guide us in learning and growing into what He wants us to be.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints exists because a 14-year-old boy followed through in asking a question that was on his mind.  The Doctrine & Covenants exists largely because of the questions of early Church leaders.  God wants us to ask, seek, and knock.  Coming to know Him is much more involved than googling a word or map, but I believe there is power in both examples when we write down our questions and explore and seek until we find an answer that satisfies our heart.  I have written three other questions in my personal journal.  Specific ones about marriage and parenting that I am struggling with.  I have been continuing to ask and seek in prayer and scripture study, and I have felt specific guidance from the Lord.  I am so grateful for that!

What questions have you been wondering about?