Prepare for War!

Most every Sunday we end up going to my parent's house or to my in-laws house for a family Sunday dinner.  Yesterday we were at my parent's house and spent an enjoyable evening together talking about how we could further strengthen and unify our family.  It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience for me.
We got done relatively late considering that I have to wake up around 5:00 am for work.  On the way home, we determined to have family scripture study and prayer in the car in case any of the kids fell asleep before we got home and could do that.  Interestingly enough, I have found that we often have some of our most meaningful scripture study sessions while in the car.  Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that they are stuck in seatbelts and can't jump off couches, wrestle or fight while we are in the car :-)
We are in Alma 48 in our family study of the Book of Mormon.  The Nephites are preparing for battle against the Lamanites and their leader (Moroni) is having them build places of security, forts, etc. in order to protect themselves against the inevitable onslaught.  In an effort for the kids to make some modern day comparisons, we asked them to think about how we might prepare our homes and family against the inevitable onslaught of Satan.
These types of questions bring out the typical answers ("say prayers!"... "read scriptures!" ... "go to church!", etc.).  I don't let Sunday School answers slide without a little bit of a challenge.  So when my 7 year old Trenton pointed out scripture study as a means to prepare for the attacks of the adversary against our family, I asked him a pointed question: "Trenton, how do you know that scripture study will help our family prepare and be kept safe from the devil?"
I won't claim that this is a word for word response, but I will say that it is pretty close.
Trenton replied, "The scriptures are powerful, because Heavenly Father is the most powerful being that there is.  Heavenly Father writes the scriptures, so all of the words in the scriptures are powerful like Him.  If we listen to the words in the scriptures we will have the power to be safe."
I was blown away by how awesome my kids are (again), and reminded of how good they are despite their occasional naughtiness, and I reached back and gave Trenton knuckles and thanked him for his awesome response.
My testimony is that Trenton is right...the scriptures do contain the words of God, and that those words are powerful.  They can bring about peace and healing in our lives and help guide us through life's difficulties.
Some may say that I brainwashed my kid to say something like this.  I suppose that you could make that argument.  However, if you could have been there, you would have recognized that this is something that he said that was uniquely his, not something that we as his parents programmed him to say.  He has been reading the scriptures on his own for quite some time now and has experienced the power that they can have in our lives.  It's as real for him as it is for me and as uniquely his experience as it is mine.
Following the scripture study we had a family prayer.  Incidentally it was Trenton's turn.  He prayed for several things, but the thing which brought a tear to my eye, was that he asked his Heavenly Father to send the Millennium soon so that he could see his cousin Brooklyn again, as well as his other family members that have passed away.  He has the desire to see them again and the hope in Jesus Christ that through the power of His resurrection that we will be able to see our loved ones again.  I know this to be true as well and am grateful to our Heavenly Father for loving us enough to send His Son and for loving us enough to give us the scriptures to help us learn of His plan and of Jesus Christ and His infinite sacrifice.
These things are real.  As real as anything else.  I have had many personal experiences that have confirmed these truths to me to where I cannot deny them.  Our Heavenly Father lives and loves us and His Son gave His life for us.  This knowledge brings us hope, peace and joy even in our darkest hours!