Sunday, January 9, 2011

FHE: Do You Have A Plan?

When each new week rolls around at our house the idea of an FHE plan seems to slip from the list of to dos.  We always hold Family Home Evening but over the last little bit laziness in preparing and planning for it has set in.  It didn't used to be this way and it needs to change. Monday dinner time hits and one of us thumbs through the Friend magazine and finds some story and that is that.  Not so well planned or Spirit-guided or intentional. It is sad really.  We have our children's attention at a specific time each week to teach them values, to teach them of Christ, to teach them about the Gospel and our three year old totally looks forward to it and we just simply pull a lesson out of a hat (or a magazine) and call it good.  I don't think so, not anymore anyways!  Now I am not saying that the Friend is out but I am saying that I will give it a second thought and actually think of FHE more than 10 minutes before it begins.  I have still seen blessings simply by holding FHE but I know that our family could be receiving many more blessings if we gave greater effort to the content that each evening held, and planned in advance.


A little while back a blogging friend of mine sent me a link to "a years worth of FHE lessons based on the LDS 2011 Primary Outline, "I Know the Scriptures are True."  It was put together by 15 ladies (thanks :) and if you search the site under FHE you can find a years worth from last year as well.  What a great resource.


The Church has a new Family Home Evening Page that is great as well.  There are quick tips, lesson ideas, most  memorable family home evenings shared, and many other great resources.  Check it out!


President Monson has said, "We cannot afford to neglect this heaven-inspired program. It can bring spiritual growth to each member of the family, helping him or her to withstand the temptations which are everywhere. The lessons learned in the home are those that last the longest.”
So do share, How do you plan for FHE?  How do you choose lesson topics?  What have been some of your most memorable Family Home Evenings?  What tips could you share?

3 comments:

Michelle H said...

I have the same problem with FHE. Last year we tried to loosely follow the OT Sunday School lessons. I'm excited to check out the links you've got here!

Alycia Grayce (Crowley Party) said...

great site :) happy I found it!

sue said...

My hubbie and I usually pick a topic for the month and then a scripture story from the old testament/new testament/book of mormon/modern scripture to illustrate the point. that way my 4 kids 5 and under get the point, see that the scriptures have pretty much the same thing in them(as in they all teach about Christ) and they learn the stories. When picking the topic I usually pray/ponder about it and then suggest it to my husband(we should probably pray about it together but I can't ever remember to do that).