Remember

Any friend of the Green family became family after this rite of passage: if they knew what to do if the smoke detector went off. Our smoke detectors are incredible sensitive so that even slightly burned toast sets them off. So of course, dinner always included setting the smoke detectors off and rather than causing any sort of panic we simply had a fool proof procedure:

1) Open the side door

2) Grab the broom

3) Use the broom to waft the smoke out the door while some one else moved the door back and forth for extra wind power.

Everyone knew their place and position so it was usually a very seamless operation. Needless to say, the smoke alarm going off was never a source of panic or fear in our household.

One Sunday morning we were all laying asleep and the smoke alarm went off. It was about 5 or so in the morning so all I remember thinking is "who in the world cooked toast this early?" and I rolled over and went back to bed. But the sound didn't stop. I waited a whole hour annoyed that no one was running through the well known "smoke alarm drill". Finally I hear my Dad calls us down and we groggily go downstairs to find an actual fire in our kitchen. We call the fire department right away and thankfully the fire was out quickly with little damage to our home. I sat in shock as I actually remembered what smoke alarms were for; to warn us of fire-not call us down because dinner was ready.

In life we often get so used to how something is that it loses its meaning and power. The scriptures constantly warn us to "remember". Remember our covenants, remember our fathers, remember our blessings, and most of all, remember our Savior and our Heavenly Father. Things within the gospel of Jesus Christ are generally repetitive  Often we can let repetition destroy the power and wisdom of God's words to us. We can allow spiritual experiences that happen to us frequently to lose their impact on us. We can let miracles become a matter of course. We let feeling the Lord's love for us to be commonplace. We allow all the beauty of all the works of God to become like a sensitive smoke detector and we begin to not give them a second thought, or, worse yet, we begin to forget what they are really supposed to do for us in our lives. I testify that just as dangerous as it was for us to ignore the fire in our house because we'd let the smoke alarm become so meaningless to us, I know that whenever we begin to let prayer, or church, or scripture study, or miracles, or blessings, or the love of those around us, and most of all our relationship with Christ and God to become meaningless than we are subject to any kind of spiritual disaster this world can have in store for us. And that is why we must always remember, that is why we must never "go through the motions", for God will always remember us, and God will forever treat us with His full attention and compassion no matter how often our "smoke alarm goes off" to Him.

Alma 36:27-29

1 Nephi 7:10-12

1 Nephi 18:21

1 Nephi 21:15