The Church is really focusing on the family, recently more so than ever as we’ve seen from the worldwide broadcast, the Visiting Teaching message this month, and other forms of media. The family is crucial to our Heavenly Father’s plan for His children, and as such, we should protect it above all else.
When my husband went to Stake Conference last week (yes, I sluffed – I was sick) he picked up a wonderful flyer from the bulletin board. It reads:
The 10 Lines of Defense for Our Family
1. Daily Private Personal Prayer
2. Daily Personal Scripture Study for Thirty Minutes
3. Daily Family Prayer
4. Daily Family Scripture Study
5. Weekly Meaningful Family Home Evening
6. Regular Family Council
7. Regular One-on-One Interviews with the Children
8. Daily Companion Prayer
9. Weekly Executive Committee Meeting with Spouse
10. Weekly Companion Gospel Conversation
When I read this, my first thought was, “Wow! How time consuming.” My next thought was, “Wow. How could a family fail if it followed all these steps with diligence.”
Our families are time consuming. That’s just how they are. No one gets away with putting in five minutes here, five minutes there, into their family responsibilities. Once you become a parent, you are committed for life and the eternities.
I particularly liked the idea of having a weekly meeting with your spouse where you sit down, talk about the children and the needs of the family, talk about schedules, finances—what a great way to bring up the level of partnership between the husband and wife. A new idea for me was the gospel conversation. This is different from family home evening, which is geared to include even the smallest children—a conversation with your spouse would include deeper, more complicated gospel principles and you could really learn a lot about each other by sharing your beliefs on these topics.
If a family were to spend this much time a day thinking about the Lord, there would be little time left for contention or idleness. The Spirit would be present in the home as a strong and unifying force. Religion would not be an abstract idea or something we just did on Sundays – it would be a part of life for all those involved.
We’ve had this list posted on our fridge for several days now, and I look at it every time I’m in the kitchen. We already do some of these things, and others we have not yet begun. But I love the idea of doing all of them. I want my home to be one of learning, of growth and progression in the Gospel. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Related Blogs:
Why Is It So Hard to Be a Mother?
Does Your Family Pull Together or Fall Apart During Crisis?