The church has given us basic guidelines on how to have a happier family. We are counseled to have family home evening, family prayer and scripture study. We are instructed to teach our children the gospel and to strive to have the gospel in our homes. At times we can fall into the trap of comparing ourselves to other families or in deciding there is only one way to accomplish these goals. It is vital that we each realize that we have the right to do things our own way. We can come to learn and know the best way to get things to work for our family through personal revelation.
For example some families may find that having family scripture study in the morning works best for their family, while other families like it best in the evening. As children grow or family circumstances change, then they may switch it to a different time of day. Additionally some families may have family home evening on a different night because of family circumstances.
Additionally different families will have different ways to bring the spirit into their homes. Each family has a different tolerance level for noise and mess. It is important to realize that these do not demonstrate the amount of love shown in a home. In reality helping our children to feel loved and appreciated helps them to learn how much the Savior loves them.
If we are looking at the families around us (and we all do) instead of comparing ourselves in a positive or negative light, it is more useful to notice things that are working for them. Then you can think of a way that you can adapt that to help improve your own family’s situation. For example I just learned of one family that gets ice cream after they have read for thirty days. This is a great motivation tool and one that I could easily adapt. I know another family that calls everyone to family home evening by singing a specific song. This can make calling everyone to family home evening a much more pleasant process as well.
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