First Family Home Evening of 2009

I was hoping the first FHE of the year would be a great one. The message was great, but the kids were having a particularly hard time not wiggling, jumping, pushing, and more. I had to get after them. Why is it that sometimes they behave so well, and then sometimes they are bouncing off the walls? I think Hayden was the only one that listened the whole time. Rob was at work until 9:30pm, so he missed out on the brawl. We sang the Primary song I Lived in Heaven. Bastian had the lesson. He held up a picture of Joseph and the first vision and asked us questions about the picture. We read Joseph Smith History 1: 11-20. While Weston catapulted himself from the couch to the ottoman (and I was sooooo frustrated), we talked about how Heavenly Father answers prayers, how powerful Satan is, how light conquers darkness, and how Heavenly Father knows us by name. I did throw in the statement from Darth Vader, “Do not underestimate the power of the dark side.” Satan knew that Joseph would be a “disturber and an annoyer” to his plan. I gave my kids FULL permission to be a disturber and annoyer…….to Satan.

Just like Joseph’s experience with Satan not wanting him to learn the truthfulness of the gospel, Satan doesn’t want us to learn it either. We talked about the ways that Satan does this and the things that we can do to follow Heavenly Father’s plan. Satan tries to tell us that we don’t have time to read the scriptures or they are too hard to understand, or that we don’t want to go to church, etc. Then we talked about the ways we can follow Heavenly Father’s plan. Hayden and Abby both said, “We can go to church.” I wanted them to know that is important, but that there are things they should be doing AT church. We talked about what some of those were. Hayden said, “We can listen to the speakers in Sacrament Meeting.” Abby said, “We can be reverent during class.” Bastian said, “We can listen to our teachers.” Weston cried…not because he was touched by the Spirit but because he was in trouble for coloring, biting the pillows, and springing off from almost EVERY surface in our family room. He did not give an answer but said, “I’m sorry for doing that,” and hoped that he still got a treat. If there’s one thing that Weston is good at, it is meaningful, heartfelt apologies.

I then gave my children a charge to learn the songs taught in Primary because if they learn them well, the messages in them will be with them forever. I love my children so much. I want them to KNOW the important things. I am trying to do a good job in teaching them and even through my frustration from misbehavior I hope they can feel that. We closed with the song I Am a Child of God. It was my turn to pick the treat this week. We had a variation of Skywalker Smoothies from the Star Wars Cookbook. It was strawberries, banana, pineapple sherbet, and vanilla ice cream blended together. Mmmmm good. The real recipe calls for strawberries, banana, orange juice (or pineapple, or grape juice) and ice. Ours tasted MUCH better with the sherbet and ice cream! And yes, Weston DID get a treat.