Some areas that I was reminded to focus on after attending stake conference this past weekend include studying the scriptures daily with our family and having Family Home Evening consistently, every Monday night, rather than hit and miss. The General Authority who was visiting our stake said he couldn't fathom his children leaving the house each day without first having family prayer.
There can always be an excuse for why we could easily skip one of these important areas that help to strengthen home and families, including busy schedules, not everyone being at home or awake at the same time.
I recommitted to having family prayer with my kids each morning, even if it means that the rest of the family isn't there, or is asleep, or what ever the distraction may be. Those who are at home or awake can still do this regularly. After all, there is a great scripture that says to "pray always."
I know that listening to this good counsel will bring the Spirit into our lives even more and ultimately help us to better handle the daily struggles in life in an effort to offset the evil influences that surround us.
Elder Marcus Nash told us of a young Latter-day Saint convert somewhere in South America who was enthusiastic about having FHE, but her nonmember dad refused to go along with it. She talked to her bishop about it and he asked if she has any stuffed animals. She did, so he suggested she have FHE weekly with them, and faithfully she did this for years. It sounds kind of strange, but she got into a really good habit of obeying this, and she developed a testimony of and learned a lot from participating regularly in Family Home Evening.
Because of her faith and obedience, she was later happily married and was now having consistent FHE with her new family.
Christopher had a band event two Monday nights ago and Kelly has Chinese class every Monday night. I told Hannah that since Christopher would be gone, we weren't going to have Family Home Evening. Later, I realized there should be no reason why she and I couldn't still have it together, so we did, just the two of us, and she was so happy.
I'll continue organizing and carrying out weekly Family Home Evening with just the kids and me, and hope that Kelly will some day find an adult Chinese class that meets another time.
We have been reading The Book of Mormon for family scripture study time and have recently begun reading the New Testament to support Christopher in his seminary class.
We don't seem to have trouble remembering prayer at mealtime or bedtime. I look forward to having our family's faith and closeness fortified by following counsel from stake conference and most importantly, modeling our lives after Jesus Christ.
There can always be an excuse for why we could easily skip one of these important areas that help to strengthen home and families, including busy schedules, not everyone being at home or awake at the same time.
I recommitted to having family prayer with my kids each morning, even if it means that the rest of the family isn't there, or is asleep, or what ever the distraction may be. Those who are at home or awake can still do this regularly. After all, there is a great scripture that says to "pray always."
“Pray always, and I will pour out my Spirit upon you, and great shall be your blessing—yea, even more than if you should obtain treasures of earth.” (D&C 19:38.)
Elder Marcus Nash told us of a young Latter-day Saint convert somewhere in South America who was enthusiastic about having FHE, but her nonmember dad refused to go along with it. She talked to her bishop about it and he asked if she has any stuffed animals. She did, so he suggested she have FHE weekly with them, and faithfully she did this for years. It sounds kind of strange, but she got into a really good habit of obeying this, and she developed a testimony of and learned a lot from participating regularly in Family Home Evening.
Because of her faith and obedience, she was later happily married and was now having consistent FHE with her new family.
Christopher had a band event two Monday nights ago and Kelly has Chinese class every Monday night. I told Hannah that since Christopher would be gone, we weren't going to have Family Home Evening. Later, I realized there should be no reason why she and I couldn't still have it together, so we did, just the two of us, and she was so happy.
I'll continue organizing and carrying out weekly Family Home Evening with just the kids and me, and hope that Kelly will some day find an adult Chinese class that meets another time.
We have been reading The Book of Mormon for family scripture study time and have recently begun reading the New Testament to support Christopher in his seminary class.
We don't seem to have trouble remembering prayer at mealtime or bedtime. I look forward to having our family's faith and closeness fortified by following counsel from stake conference and most importantly, modeling our lives after Jesus Christ.
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