Simple FHE Plan for 2012 and Some Additional Family Scripture Study Thoughts

So we have our new scripture plan rolling and so far so good, although I did change from making a poster to using a 3 ring binder for our characterisitics instead.  Right now it is filled with blank pages and we will add characterstics and our characteristic sentences as time goes on and we discover them.  I think it will work well but we are still in the new transitional period and I am sure things will be revamped as time goes on.  I also realized that we are going to bite off even smaller chunks of scripture each day.  More along the lines of somewhere between 2-8 verses rather than 5-15.  We just took about 6 days to get through the introduction to the Book of Mormon and the 3 and 8 witnesses and I also planned out our readings for the next month and by the 5th of February we are only going to be at 1 Nephi 6.  Nice and steady. I think it will work, I guess we shall see.  It may take us a year and a half to finish this scripture plan or maybe it'll go quicker than I think and we will head into the Bible after this.  :) Who knows.  If anyone wants more details I'd be happy to share if you have specific questions, that is if I have answers.  Hey, I'll take additional suggestions and thoughts too.   

Now onto our simple FHE plan for the year....Gospel Principles manual.  Yep, that's it.  Nothing fancy or over the top but something so perfectly simple and essential that I don't think we can go wrong.  There are 47 lessons total which gives us leeway on 5 weeks out of the year.  We plan to go in order cover to cover but that may change as we see the need for a specific chapter as we go along.   We'll each just take turns on our week to take care of the lesson and can do whatever we wish with our chapter.  The first week went well. Our almost 5 year old sat and listened intently about our Heavenly Father.  He asked good questions and I could tell that he got something out of it. When it is his turn I'll help him write a lesson, more like a talk to give. He always does a great job when we do this.  He actually loves to stand up on our step ladder as he presents his lesson like he is giving a talk in church.  Sometimes he even gets out his play microphone to add to the fun.  It is good fun.  I am excited to continue to learn from this great resource and to teach our children these simple, essential gospel truths. 

Do you have a plan for your family FHE and scripture study in 2012?  I feel like I am usually floating from week to week and haphazardly figuring things out so I hope that these plans stick it out for the whole year and we gain something from it all. Here's to a good year!

Simple Christ-Centered Christmas Traditions

The First Presidency Christmas Devotional last night was wonderful.  The music was beautiful and the messages were great reminders.  If you and your family didn't get a chance to watch it you can do so HERE.  It would make for a great FHE tonight.  Also, a neat announcement was made and a new page born on lds.org with Bible videos to be added monthly.    They are free to download and are a gift to the world.  You can watch the video that was shown last night below: 



The Christmas Devotional is such a simple way to remember Christ during the Christmas Season.  A tradition that takes little planning, no running to and fro, and no gifts to be purchased.

I also thought I'd share two Christmas Traditions that our little family started this year.  So I guess they are not techniquely traditions yet but I hope to continue them each year and turn them into traditions.

First, we put up this little tree next to our bigger tree. It was my husband and I's very first Christmas tree.  Now it is our Service and Kindness tree.  When I catch my children serving or being kind I let them pick out an ornament to add to the tree.  Sometimes I send my 4 year old to preschool with service in mind and he'll come back and tell me something nice he did.  It was been good.  It's also nice to have a tree that is free for them to touch and move ornaments around on. :)

Then Secondly, we tweaked this idea from the Friend.  We have this nativity picture hanging on the wall in our living room and each morning we are adding a star to the wall.  We write something about Jesus on the star and tape it to the wall.  By Christmas we should have one starry night.  My son is already excited about putting the biggest star above the picture on Christmas Eve.

Our 4 year old (soon to be 5) has come up with things like:
Jesus helped people to see.
Jesus was crucified for us.
Jesus was born in a stable.
Jesus helped raise people from the dead.

And our 2 year old has said things like this (with a little help sometimes :):
Jesus hugs me.
Jesus loves me.
Jesus made animals.
Jesus holds me.

It has been a great way to keep us thinking about Christ every day this December.  What are some Christ-Centered traditions that your family has?

FHE Idea: Thanksgiving - Gratitude Tree

Okay, so I am finally back to posting...I think. ;) 

I am sure that many of you have seen or done something similar to this at your homes but just in case I thought I'd share something we started last FHE at our house that would work just as great to start tonight or next Monday as well.

First, we told the story of the Ten Lepers and how only one came back to tell Christ thank you and how it might have made Him feel.  We talked about how we feel when someone thanks us or maybe when they don't.  We talked about specific things we could say thank you for and how we need to always remember to thank Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and others for all of the things we are blessed with in our lives.

And then we created this beautiful Thankful or Gratitude Tree.  I had previously cut out all of the leaves (I'd highly recommend sticking with simple patterns or just cutting out free hand.)  We created the tree on the spot.  I cut out random shapes and sizes of branches and my husband and two little ones created this masterpiece of a tree.  It was fun to create the tree together. 

We each chose three leaves that night and wrote down something we are thankful for on them and shared them with each other.  Since last Monday each morning as part of our Morning Devotional we have added a leaf or two to the tree.

It is fun to hear what my 4 and 2 year old come up with.  We have things on the tree like,

• When people say I love you.
• Smiles
• Temples
• My little sister.
• Friends.
• Family.
• Baby (doll)
• The Priesthood

It has been good to stop each morning and think of something we are thankful for as we start the day.  I hope we all can have an enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday and one filled with gratitude!

New Videos Created from Friend Magazine Articles

So I was recently sent this short video from Sun Swing Media to review and share with all of you. They are a new company that is creating short videos based off of stories found in the Friend magazine.  The video I watched is called, “The Decision.”  It costs $1 to download and the money goes toward making the next short video called, “ The Do-Gooders.” 

The video is about pornography and is geared toward young children.  It is sad that it has come to the point when talking about pornography can’t be put off until older years but pornography is there and it is there early. 

At first I wondered how young people would respond to the quite simple animations but I knew that the simple yet profound story-line would be perfect for young audiences.  So I tested it on my 4 year old and I think his review is much more significant than mine.  Although I must say that an article I read said it was geared more toward 6-12 year olds.

I started the video for my little boy and he immediately seemed engaged.  Afterward, he instantly asked if he could watch it again.  I played it one more time and then we talked.  I asked him what the video was about and he answered “pornography”.  We talked about what happened and he definitely recognized the good choice that the boys made in the film and how proud all of their parents were of them.  After our short discussion he asked, “Could I watch it again sometime if I want to?”  I said yes and told him that we could maybe watch it for FHE sometime and he said, “We should’ve watched that video last night for FHE.”

So if you can’t tell, my 4 year old seemed to enjoy it quite a bit and he seemed to comprehend the important principles taught in the video. I would recommend the video to anyone with young children.

Here is a small portion of the video:

You can download “The Decision” for $1 HERE.

You can learn more about Sun Swing Media HERE.

You can read the original story in the Friend HERE.
Sun Swing Media even has an FHE lesson plan you can use HERE.

Family Home Evening Idea: Practicing Reverence

Well last week I wrote about wanting to be more prepared and intentional with our Family Home Evenings and last week we did it! Yea! It was all about being reverent. We have been having some troubles lately with reverence in sacrament meetings all together but I was specifically worried about behavior and irreverence during the actual sacrament. It was starting to really not look pretty. Our family prayers were reaching a similar state and thus my idea to hold an FHE on the topic.

We started out singing "Reverence is Love" from the Children's Song Book and then I asked my three year old what it meant to be reverent and he said, "to be quiet". We then talked about how we should be quiet and sit nicely but we also should think about Jesus and other good things.

We talked about how we should be very reverent while we pray and I asked him to show us how to be reverent during a prayer. He demonstrated perfectly. Because of recent happenings I was almost starting to believe that he didn't know how to anymore but he knelt down, folded his arms, bowed his head, and closed his eyes. We praised the perfect demonstration and talked about how we needed to try to do this whenever we are praying.

Then came a real practice. We talked about how we needed to be much better at being reverent during the Sacrament. I had gathered all of the things that I like to allow our children to look at during the actual sacrament (we try to wait on snacks, coloring, etc) like gospel art books, hymn book, children's books like "Noah's Ark" and "I'm Trying to be Like Jesus",small family picture books, etc. We all sat on the couch and pretended like it was the pew at church. I told them that we could only whisper and we were not allowed to get off the couch and play on the floor. We set a timer for 10 minutes and practiced what our behavior should be like during the sacrament. It went awesome for both our almost 4 year old and our 15 month old. We cheered their behavior on and I challenged our little boy to try to do the same on the coming Sunday which was today.

Let's just say I was a proud Momma and you bet I let me son know that! They both did awesome, better than I have seen in a long time. And to top it all off between Sunday School and Relief Society I had one of the primary leaders come up to me and say that my son was so cute and had done an awesome job in Sharing Time (he just barely became a Sunbeam and I have been worried about this) and get this, she said that he was so reverent. I mean really what better words could a Mom hear who just tried to teach that very principle. It was a good and reverent day at Church today and I hope that we can continue on our intentional, purposeful Family Home Evenings. I just had to grin this afternoon as I heard my honey and my little guy planning their lesson for tomorrow. We're off to a good start.

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?

FHE in a Jar

So I came across this simple way of doing a quick FHE lesson when you've dropped the ball again and didn't think ahead ;). Or maybe this doesn't happen to you and in that case this could be a great morning devotional while your kids are eating breakfast or even a quick spiritual pick me up for you in the afternoon while kids are at school or taking naps.

Here is how it works:
Print out this page, cut each strip out, and drop them in a mason canning jar. Pull out a strip whenever you’re in need of a quick and easy lesson. Sing your song, say your opening prayer, and read each scripture. Then discuss the information under Topic.

Thanks JennySmith.net!

Is Your Family Floating?

Paddle, paddle, kick, kick, sink, sink, HELP!!!. Learning to swim can be tough. Do your kids know how to swim? Most of us can answer yes to this question (unless your children are too young). Did they take a class or did you teach them? Either way they had to learn certain techniques somehow to keep their head above water. But even when they finally can venture out and do a little paddling and kicking solo we like to send them on their way with some added protection - wonderful cute little floaties. Not to mention we don't mind when there is a pair of eyes perched up above watching just in case their life guard expertise is in need.

Recently I was talking with a mom who has a struggling teen and her words struck me, "I'm just holding my breath and hoping that everything turns out okay."

Because this post was already in the works I immediately pictured her holding her breath under water trying to keep her son afloat and I realized that they were taking quite a risk. She can only hold her breath for so long and he doesn't have any floaties.

Have you given your kids oodles of floaties...

...spiritual floaties?

They need them. And maybe we as parents should grasp the paranoia of this Dad and plaster our kids with their protective floaties even though our children at times may roll their eyes at us. We can't afford to have their heads sink below the water because they can only hold their breath for so long and eventually will gasp in some of the worldly waters.


But why do some of us not give our kids the floaties and if we did initially why don’t we continually pump them up?

The scriptures give us three reasons:

1. We are at “ease in Zion” and think “All is well” (2 Nephi 28:24-25). We think things like, “We are doing just fine. We go to church. We’ve got the basic techniques down.”

2. We are confused by our worldly wisdom. How will doing the small and simple things even make a difference or make great things come to pass (Alma 37:6-7)? We think things like, “It won’t make a difference if we miss FHE this week or don’t hold family scripture study. Floaties are so small they barely do anything.”

3. We are simply slothful (lazy) or forgetful (Alma 37-41-42). We think things like, “I don’t want to get the kids up for scripture study. Let’s just watch TV instead of FHE. We forgot family prayer AGAIN. Where did I put those “floaties”? I don’t feel like putting them on right now.”

When we choose not to pump up or use our floaties our children begin to sink and we do not progress in our journey. Our families experience afflictions (Alma 37:42) because of our contentment, or our worldly wisdom, or our laziness.

But if we realize the risks in not putting the floaties on and listen to the counsel we’ve been given we can prepare our families so that our heads will not sink even remotely close to the worldly waters.

In General Conference Elder Andersen said, “In our world today, each child, each young man and young woman needs his or her own conversion to the truth. Each needs his or her own light, his or her own “steadfast and immovable” faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, independent of parents, youth leaders, and supportive friends.

Like Elder Andersen said, our children need to have their own foundation, their own testimonies, their own techniques but as they learn they will also need protective floaties and they will continually need air pumped into them to keep their heads high above the worldly waters that may drown them spiritually. They will need the extra protection that comes from doing the Small and Simple things. Because by doing small and simple things great things are brought to pass (Alma 37:6-7).

Here are four small and simple floaties that will buoy our families high above the potential drowning effects of worldly waters (and that promised buoyancy is indeed a great thing that will come to pass):

Family Prayer - President Gordon B. Hinckley: “I submit that a return to the old pattern of prayer, family prayer in the homes of the people, is one of the basic medications that would check the dread disease that is eroding the character of our society. We could not expect a miracle in a day, but in a generation we would have a miracle” (Ensign, Feb 1991, 2).

Scripture Study - President Ezra Taft Benson: “The Book of Mormon will change your life. It will fortify you against the evils of our day. It will bring spirituality into your life that no other book will. It will be the most important book you will read in preparation for a mission and for life. A young [person] who knows and loves the Book of Mormon, who has read it several times, who has an abiding testimony of its truthfulness, and who applies its teachings will be able to stand against the wiles of the devil and will be a mighty tool in the hands of the Lord” (Ensign, May 1986, 43).

Family Home Evening - President James E. Faust:“’Regular participation in family home evening will develop increased personal worth, family unity, love for our fellow men, and trust in our Father in heaven. It is our promise that great blessings will come to all who conscientiously plan and hold weekly family home evenings.’ This is as true today as it was almost 30 years ago. If we go forward with our family home evenings, our homes will be enriched, our wards and branches will grow and prosper, our lives will be purified, and the gates of hell will not prevail against us” (Ensign, Jun ‘03, 2–6).

Temple Attendance - President Boyd K. Packer: "No work is more of a protection to this church than temple work and the genealogical research which supports it. No work is more spiritually refining. No work we do gives us more power. No work requires a higher standard of righteousness. Our labors in the temple cover us with a shield and a protection, both individually and as a people” (The Holy Temple, 265).

Let us recognize the need for our children to have their own techniques, their own testimonies, but also let us recognize that to keep their testimonies strong and to protect them from the raging waters of the world we must give them spiritual floaties and continually pump them up. We must strive to do the “small and simple” things and if we do we are promised great things.

Free FHE Treat Tonight

I don't usually post things like this but on a Monday I couldn't resist.

It is National Pretzel Day (April 26) and all you have to do is sing a snipet of your favorite song (if you got really into it you could even sing a primary song :), or simply say National Pretzel Day at a participating Pretzel Maker/Time and you can get a free pretzel (with or without salt). All of these locations are participating. I know that many of you are in Utah and there are 11 participating locations here from Logan to St. George plus tons all over the country. Yea!

Enjoy a yummy FHE tonight!

How do you make the gospel a part of your everyday life?

I want the gospel to BE our life, not just a few things on our to-do list each day. So my question is: How do you make the gospel a part of your everyday life - besides FHE, family scripture study and family prayer?

*This question came from Laurie who has a wonderful blog called, "I Have a Testimony". Thanks for your question. You have me thinking...

WOWW: Family Home Evening Blessings

“Regular participation in family home evening will develop increased personal worth, family unity, love for our fellowmen, and trust in our Father in heaven. It is our promise that great blessings will come to all who conscientiously plan and hold weekly family home evenings. I testify that this is as true today as it was almost 30 years ago.

If we go forward with our family home evenings, our homes will be enriched, our wards and branches will grow and prosper, our lives will be purified, and the gates of hell will not prevail against us."

James E. Faust, “Enriching Our Lives through Family Home Evening,” Ensign, Jun 2003, 2–6

Have you seen the blessings of Family Home Evening in the lives of you and your family?

General Conference FHE

Well, General Conference has past and now it is time to whip into action and make some changes and apply all of that enthusiastic energy and desire and motivation we all felt just a week ago. Has it already started to die for anyone? Have you already forgotten all of the things you were so excited to implement and do better in? I find it so easy to forget or to lose motivation to actually DO the things we felt and were taught.

Some conferences I do well at reading most, if not all, of the talks and other conferences, well...I may not read much of any of them at all. This time around our little family has decided to make our Family Home Evenings very much centered on the General Conference talks and I am excited.

We're making a schedule to help us along but we will not be hitting all of the talks (at least not during FHE) due to the number of weeks available before next conference. On my husband and my weeks to be in charge of the FHE lesson we will focus on a talk. The person in charge must read it ahead of time and share their thoughts or a quote or two as well as something to draw the attention of our 2 1/2 year old. Hopefully whoever is not in charge will have read the entire talk that week as well but we are not making it a requirement. Then on our sons weeks we will have a lesson that comes from The Friend magazine, which he really seems to enjoy.

So that is our plan. What is your plan to keep the conference messages alive until next April arrives?

If you'd like to join the fun over at Diapers and Divinity of an online General Conference Book Club click on the picture below:

FHE Idea: Kites and Obedience

We have been wanting to go fly kites for a while now but the days we seem to think of it either it is too cold/rainy or there is absolutely no breeze. Well, yesterday I checked outside and there was a definite breeze so I thought it would be fun to fly kites for our FHE activity.

It was our little boys turn for lesson and so I wanted to find something that he would be really interested and involved in and I also thought it would be fun to have something related to kites. Then I remembered a story my Grandma once told in a talk several years ago. I didn't remember what lesson was taught by the story but I remembered that she had told a story about kite flying.

I got online and quickly found it. It is a simple and short story. It was perfect for our 2 year old.

The original story goes like this (However, I simplified a few parts to be more at my little boys level):
(Shared by Patricia P. Pinegar in a talk titled, "Peace, Hope, and Direction")

"I enjoyed telling them the story of the little boy who went to the park with his father to fly a kite.

The boy was very young. It was his first experience with kite flying. His father helped him, and after several attempts the kite was in the air. The boy ran and let out more string, and soon the kite was flying high. The little boy was so excited; the kite was beautiful. Eventually there was no more string left to allow the kite to go higher. The boy said to his father, “Daddy, let’s cut the string and let the kite go; I want to see it go higher and higher.”

His father said, “Son, the kite won’t go higher if we cut the string.”

“Yes, it will,” responded the little boy. “The string is holding the kite down; I can feel it.” The father handed a pocketknife to his son. The boy cut the string. In a matter of seconds the kite was out of control. It darted here and there and finally landed in a broken heap. That was difficult for the boy to understand. He felt certain the string was holding the kite down.

The commandments and laws of God are like the kite string. They lead us and guide us upward. Obedience to these laws gives us peace, hope, and direction."

To go along with the story I found simple clip art (shown above) for my little boy to stick on the wall at certain points in the story. I put numbers on the back of each picture along with some tape and when I hit the certain point in the story that it went along with I'd tell him which number to stick on the wall. He loved this.

He also helped with the preparations. He helped write the numbers on the back of the clip art and we practiced what the last piece of paper said on it, "obedience".

It worked out great. We have been talking about being obedient for the last little while. Earlier Monday morning he actually had pulled my hair and got in trouble. Without any prompt from me he said, "be obedient like Nephi". He loves Nephi and he knows that Nephi made good choices and was obedient. It was perfect! I can tell it is starting to set in a bit. The lesson was a great reinforcement to the morning's events.

After he taped the word obedience on the wall and proudly told Daddy and I what it said we talked about obedience a little. Then the transition to flying kites was perfect. After we had been talking about kites so much our little boy jumped up and said, "I want to fly kites." Little did he know, we were actually going to. I whipped out the Lightning McQueen kite that was perfectly hidden away and he was thrilled.

We then headed to the park for some fun kite flying. Similar to the little boy in the story and how he wanted to cut the string, our little boy kept letting go of the string and watching the kite fly out of control in the sky while we scrambled to catch the string that was running away from us. What a great lesson this truly teaches. If we cut ourselves from the commandments and laws of God or if we simply let go of them we lose the peace, hope, and direction they bring and our lives begin to spiral out of control.

We had a great FHE with a great lesson from a two year old. Let us strive to be obedient like Nephi and let us keep our strings attached as we are obedient to the commandments of God.

LDS Taboo

Have you ever played the game Taboo? Well, if you have or even if you haven't, you might enjoy this printable version of LDS Taboo. It could be a fun FHE activity or any night activity for that matter.

For example...this is how the game goes:
You need to make your team figure out that the word is Bishop.
"How do you get your team to say BISHOP?
You can’t say WARD, LEADER, CONDUCT, or FATHER. They’re Taboo— utterly unmentionable words!

Think fast, talk fast and don’t say a Taboo word or you’ll get called and lose a point!

You might say:
• “HE LEADS OUR CONGREGATION”
• “HE HAS TWO COUNSELORS”
• “HE REPORTS TO THE STAKE PRESIDENT”"

Check it out...it looks like a lot of fun.

LDS Taboo
Rules
Cards

Scripture Valentines Activity

I found this idea off of Sugardoodle.net by Linda Harper and thought it would be a fun Valentine's FHE idea or Scripture Study. It is simple but engaging. It sounds pretty fun.

"First I asked a trivia question: How many times does the word "heart" appear in all of our standard works. (1006 times) I had everyone make a guess and the one who came closest got a small bag of hearts. (By the way, the word "Love" appears 368 times).

Then I took several scriptures that had the word heart in them. I gave them the page numbers and told them to search that page for a scripture with the word heart. It was different chasing by page numbers. It really got them into the scriptures, reading to find "Heart." The first one that found it, read it and then I gave them a heart. Here are the scriptures I used, all from the New Testament:

Page 1227 - Matthew 22:37 - Love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart.
Page 1192 - Matthew 5:8 - Pure in heart
Page 1201 - Matt 9:4 - evil in your heart
Page 1208 - Matthew 12:34 - abundance of the heart
Page 1196 - Matthew 6:21 - there will your heart be also
Page 1277 - Luke 2:51 - all things in her heart
Page 1285 - Luke 6:45 - treasure of his heart.
Page 1307 - Luke 16:15 - God knoweth your heart.
Page 1352 - John 14:1 - Let not your heart be troubled
Page 1356 - John 16:22 - your heart shall rejoice
Page 1372 - Acts 4:32 - of one heart
Page 1427 - Romans 8:27 - searcheth the hearts
Page 1483 - Eph 3:17 - Christ dwelling in your heart
Page 1440 - 1 Cor 2:9 - Heart of man
Page 1545 - 1 Pet. 1:22 - a pure heart

I mixed these all up as we chased them. It was a fun about 10-15 minute activity."

FHE: Armor of God

Well, this started as an attempt to keep our little toddler occupied at church and ended in a random, thrown together FHE lesson that turned out to be simple but a success.

So I printed off a coloring sheet of a little boy with armor. (I couldn't find the one I originally used but this one at this link is cuter anyway.) We had our little boy color it at church then Monday night rolled around and once again we were not so prepared. It has become a bad habit at our house especially when it is our little man's turn to do the lesson. I just tend to forget that it really is "my" turn again. Anyway, that was a side note.

So my husband says, "Should we start FHE?" Now you have to read this in a hurried manner...this all happened in approximately 5 minutes or so. I look at the clock and then at our FHE chart and my brain starts churning. Lesson...Thinking...Lesson...Hmmm - Got it! I grab the coloring sheet out of the diaper bag. I cut and cut and cut, and cut some more. I run upstairs to look the Armor of God scripture up on the computer - Ephesians...Ephesians chapter 6...11..got it! While searching for the scripture another idea pops into my head and I run into our play room and grab our knight helmet, a shield, and a few other items. And then...(you can read more slowly now) we sit down for FHE and it goes a little something like this:

With a little direction from me and some tape our little boy put together the most fearsome looking, crooked looking, armored man I've ever seen. It was great and we had ourselves a little paper man wearing the Armor of God.

Then we read the wonderfully short (perfect for an almost 2 year old) but powerful scripture - "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." We didn't go into the detials of what each of the pieces of armor meant (although this would be great to do with older children) but stuck to simple things. We made a short list of things that can be our armor like: prayer, scripture study, family home evening, and attending church (all things that our boy somewhat grasps).

Then without much connection to spiritual things our little boy dressed up in the "Armor of God". With a grin on his face and a helmet on his head this week Family Home Evening was a success.

It wasn't the usual battle of wanting to sing "Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam" for the tenth time instead of having a lesson. Or the battle of convincing that FHE is fun when blocks, puzzles, and balls are in the next room. Or the giving of a lesson over the screaming-tantrum-thrower in the corner.

It was simple, it was fun, but the most important part was that it was with our family, home together for the evening. So every week, rain or shine, scream or smile, FHE will go on.

I am sure you all can relate to the successful FHE nights and well, the nights that almost seem to be good-for-nothing. When it comes down to it though we "have [been] promised that our dedication to this program will help protect our families against the evils of our time and will bring us abundant joy now and throughout the eternities."

We had a simple lesson on the Armor of God but all the while we were creating and strengthing a small portion of our literal armor, we were helping to protect our family from the evils of our time. So the next time Family Home Evening rolls around and whining persists or chaos prevails just remember that through the screams, the whines, and the groans you are putting on the Armor of God.

Great FHE Ideas

There are so many wonderful resources online to help with FHE and I just wanted to post a few links that might be helpful to all of you. Most of these sights have many other great helps as well.

The Idea Door

Sugardoodle

Family Home Evening in a Snap

Family Home Evening Planner

Our latest fun FHE was about being kind. Our son is having a hard time with being too rough when he gets upset, so I copied off the phrases "Be nice.", "Be kind.", and "Be soft." We taped them to our wall and for several days when we'd ask him to please be soft he would run to the wall and say, "kind?, soft?, or nice?" and touch the phrases. The best part about it was that it took him away from the situation where he was being rough and turned his attention to the nice words on the wall. It seemed to help a lot until he ripped them off the wall and crumpled them up...so much for teaching him to be soft. :) No, it really was good and I just might have to copy them again and laminate them. Yea for FHE!!!

Plan of Salvation Puzzle

So I just came across this Plan of Salvation Puzzle on Sugardoodle and I thought it would make a fun FHE. You can find the cutouts at this link --->Plan of Salavation Puzzle.

The Ten Commandments

Well I just realized that I haven't posted a video in quite a while now and it is about time. This is a video that can help in memorizing the ten commandments. It is catchy, rhymes, and has pictures to help a long the way. Enjoy!

I also found this cute finger play for younger children -
Ten commandments - A Finger Play
by Carol McAdoo Rehme, May 1998, Friend

1 This is the mountain where Moses went. (Put fingertips together to form a peak.)
2 This is the tablet Heavenly Father sent. (Put hands together, palms open.)
3 This is Christ’s finger that wrote the words. (Have pointer finger “write” on open palm.)
4 This is the voice that Moses heard. (Cup hands around mouth.)
5 This is the cloud on the mountain tall. (Clasp hands above head.)
6 These are the commandments—count ten in all. (Wiggle all ten fingers.)
7 One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten!

Here is a coloring page as well as a bookmark - Moses and the Ten Commandments Coloring Page ~ Ten Commandments Bookmark

All of this could be rolled into a fun Family Home Evening for all age groups. I haven't tried it yet but maybe next time.

FHE: A Stars Guiding Light

A few weeks ago for Family Home Evening we had a lesson using stars. While I was preparing I came across a more full text to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I've never heard these verses before but they teach something great. We sang this song, then read President Hinckley's experience with the North Star. It was a Conference lesson so we talked about how the Prophets and Apostles and their counsel can be our guiding stars and we talked about what we are going to do to follow their counsel.

There are so many ways you could look at the words in this song and experience though. Instead of the Prophets and Apostles being the guiding stars to us travelers, we could be the little star shining for those around us and when President Hinckley continued in his talk he spoke of love being the North Star.

For our activity we went outside and cuddled up on a blanket and looked at the stars. For our treat we had brownies cut in the shape of stars, yum-yum. It went well and we had fun.

I've had my mind on FHE lately since I came across this FHE Planning Blog - Check it out HERE!

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky!

When the blazing sun is gone,
When he nothing shines upon,
Then you show your little light,
Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.

Then the traveller in the dark,
Thanks you for your tiny spark,
He could not see which way to go,
If you did not twinkle so.

In the dark blue sky you keep,
And often through my curtains peep,
For you never shut your eye,
Till the sun is in the sky.

As your bright and tiny spark,
Lights the traveller in the dark,—
Though I know not what you are,
Twinkle, twinkle, little star.

President Hinckley
When I was a boy, we lived on a farm in the summer. It was in the country, where the nights were dark. There were no streetlights or anything of the kind. My brother and I slept out-of-doors. On clear nights—and most of those nights were clear and the air was clean—we would lie on our backs and look at the myriads of stars in the heavens. We could identify some of the constellations and other stars as they were illustrated in our encyclopedia. Each night we would trace the Big Dipper, the handle and the cup, to find the North Star.

We came to know of the constancy of that star. As the earth turned, the others appeared to move through the night. But the North Star held its position in line with the axis of the earth. And so it had come to be known as the Polar Star, or the Polestar, or the Lodestar. Through centuries of time, mariners had used it to guide them in their journeys. They had reckoned their bearings by its constancy, thereby avoiding traveling in circles or in the wrong direction, as they moved across the wide, unmarked seas.

Because of those boyhood musings, the Polar Star came to mean something to me. I recognized it as a constant in the midst of change. It was something that could always be counted on, something that was dependable, an anchor in what otherwise appeared to be a moving and unstable firmament.

President] Harold B. Lee said, we should let these conference addresses ‘be the guide to [our] walk and talk during the next six months. These are the important matters the Lord sees fit to reveal to this people in this day.’ ” (Ensign, May 1988, p. 84.)