There is so much to do and learn in this big wide crazy, yet terrific world we live in. Amidst all those choices are some pretty scary ones.
I remember as a young mother, I used to watch my toddler play at the park. Oh, I was so careful to run to his side if he scraped his knee or bonked his head. He needed me and I needed to model how to take care of bleeding injuries and how to handle emotional upsets.
But what about now that he is a teenager? Now he is not always at my side. My son not only is busy with school activities, church responsibilities, and friends, but he is also preparing in many ways to “leave the nest.” In a few short years he will be old enough to serve a mission and to teach other people about Jesus Christ. Will he be ready?
I have found one of the best ways to prepare my children, not just my oldest, is through weekly Family Home Evenings. There are some other excellent posts here at LDSBlogs.com on how to approach Family Home Evening. I’ll refer you to them starting with this Family Home Evening article and this article on strengthening your family through the gospel.
But here are a few additional things to think about that you might want to factor into your FHEs.
1. Spiritual Preparedness.
It would be important to share the love of Jesus Christ in each FHE. You can do this through studying the scriptures in many different ways. You can also testify of Him or share of personal witnesses you have had. All of this builds a solid foundation for your children, so they know who to turn to when they’re on their own and have “fallen” and “scraped” their emotional or spiritual selves.
2. Emotional Preparedness.
Remember that children learn to treat others how parents treat them. Are our children emotionally resilient? They will be resilient as they grow in love, support, and respect. Thus, I’ve noticed our family’s most successful FHEs have been those where the family has laughed and enjoyed one another, NOT where any have been picked on, chastened, corrected or yelled at.
3. Emergency Preparedness.
Why not throw in an emergency preparedness moment in each FHE? My family has purchased an inexpensive CPR doll so that we can practice at least monthly this important life-saving skill. Why not divide the year into 12 different emergency focuses (i.e. bandaging, CPR, water purifying, ham radio skills) so that if your children were separated from you during an emergency, they could deal with it calmly!
Family Home Evening really can be fun if we remember that those we associate with have the potential to become our best friends. As we love, encourage, inspire, and teach our children, once they leave our presence – and if they fall and “scrape” themselves emotionally, spiritually, or in any other way – they will be strong and capable.
We might not always be able to give hugs to our children physically, but we can do so now for them in so many ways – and Family Home Evening is one of the best that I know of!
To learn more about FHE, click on this Family Home Evening link.
