Family Home Evening, Simplified (Or, In Which I Wisen Up Like the Rest of You)

My biggest struggle with Family Home Evening has always been coming up with a lesson topic. I always felt it would be much easier to have it regularly if someone could outline a year's worth of lessons for me to do. This way I can look at the topic, prepare, and get it ready to go without having to actually come up with what to teach about.

Then (because sometimes I'm very slow) I realized something. Someone already has! I know there are various Family Home Evening lesson books out there, but we are still at the stage where we need to have our lessons last only minutes or, as if on cue, the kids start behaving like monkeys on sugar pills. The I Am a Child of God primary manual has changed everything for me. All I do is look at the lesson Everett is going to have the following Sunday, pick out a few concepts to go over and a few activities to do (occasionally their ideas make me have some of my own), and Everett has a meaningful lesson. I'm hoping the concepts will stick with him because he will learn it twice in a week's time. The best part about this whole arrangement is that I don't have to think very hard to come up with something--a huge plus, as my capacity to think things up is seriously lacking at this point. Ashley still has trouble sitting for the lessons of course, but I don't worry about whether or not I can tell she absorbs anything. The important thing is that she gets used to the routine.

Another thing we've been trying to be better at is having family scripture study. We spent three years hardly ever reading the scriptures together, but we decided we just have to make it a priority. We can only spend a few minutes at this or the kids get too wiggly, so we have taken to reading a story a day out of the simplified, illustrated Book of Mormon the Church has put out. I would love to get the Old and New Testament as well. I didn't realize how Everett has looked forward to our nightly routine of scripture study and family prayer until the other night.

We had gotten home late from a potluck dinner and had some friends coming over for games. We had to rush the kids to bed and I think Joel and I had the same thought: we'd just forgo scripture study that night and only have family prayer. When I mentioned to Everett that it was time for family prayer, he raised his arms in protestation.

"No, Mommy!" He exclaimed, shaking his head with great feeling. "Not prayer now! We need to read scriptures first. Then we have prayer!" His impassioned statements hit home for me and I couldn't help but smile and hug him. I told Joel what Everett had said, and Joel let me know that Everett had given him the same lecture not five minutes before.

Ashley has gotten very excited about our prayers together, as well. She seems to have the basic format down: bow your head, close your eyes, and fold your arms. (Right now we have various masking tape letters and shapes on our floor and she has claimed the "gircle" (circle) for herself to kneel on.) She usually squints her entire face up for good measure, then begins jabbering in a high-pitched cutesy little voice. At the end she says "AMEN!" and raises her arms up as though she is proud of her accomplishment. Someday I'll have to get this on video because I'm sure she'll outgrow it before I am ready.

It is a blessing to have small children in this home. Everything is black and white for them--either you are supposed to do it, or you're not; no sitting on the fence. I am glad they want to read scriptures together and pray (not having to drag groggy teenagers out of bed for these things is a major plus), and I am glad they are vocal about reminding us to do so as well. I certainly need that in my life. There are days I wish I had someone older around to talk to, but there are other times I really love being a mother to small children. It is precious to me to have these little children in the house. They constantly remind me of what is most valuable in the world, and they do it with cheerfulness and excitement and vigor. I love it.