Learning to Lead

On Monday nights our family has a tradition of holding Family Home Evening. It's a night that we set aside as "family only". After dinner, we don't watch TV, read books, play, or do whatever we might normally do. We gather together and sing songs, have a gospel lesson, share some scripture stories, etc. There is always some kind of fun activity or game involved, as well as a treat. (How else would we bribe our kids to do this every week otherwise?) No, seriously, I know they enjoy this time and understand that it is special, games and treats aside.

Anyway, a few weeks ago, Olivia was put in charge of teaching Family Home Evening. We left it completely up to her to decide what the lesson was about and how to go about teaching it. She was adorable. She loved being in the spotlight, loved telling us what to do (get to know Olivia!) and did a great job. She brought out some church manuals and laid them in front of us. She got papers and pencils and she taught about families, then had us write down some things that make us happy in our family.



So last night it was Austin's turn. He was very excited. No surprise, he decided to work on the game first. He wrote up some clues and hid them around the room. When it was time to start, he welcomed us all to Family Night and asked me to say the opening prayer. We sang "I Am a Child of God" then he told us a scripture story. He had told me before that the lesson was going to be about obedience (this made Jared and I very happy, it's always a good subject) but I didn't know what he would say.



He said he already knew what scripture he wanted to share. He read the story of Moses in Egypt, when the Pharaoh's people were hit with many plagues because he wouldn't let Moses' people go. Austin did a good job of relating it to us, and said that when we don't obey God, we won't be blessed.



After that he had some pictures to show us (from the Gospel Kit). He showed a girl helping Dad wash the dishes (being obedient doing her chores), a cute family (said that when we love each other our family is happy), Adam and Eve (said that they followed lots of commandments), a boy being baptized (because we follow Christ's example), and the Army of Helaman (who followed orders with exactness).



Finally we got to play the game. We looked for the various clues he had placed around the room. Here is Olivia reaching for one on the fireplace mantel. The girls had lots of fun searching. Once we had them all, we discussed how they applied to the topic of obedience.



This is what he wrote: kiness (kindness), be reverent, shar (share) toys, obedince (obedience), show love. I love how he thought these things out in his head and planned what we would do. I think it's such a great opportunity for kids to practice public speaking, but also to lead a group, and plan how to teach the lesson, etc. As well as the obvious- applying the gospel principles that you HOPE they already know. I was so proud of him. At the end, we told him that you always need to testify of the things you have just taught and he didn't hesitate for a second. He proceeded to give a great testimony.



After he finished Ashley insisted that she do it too (of course) so she hopped up on the coffee table and Dad helped her out. It was darling. I love it when the older siblings are doing something that you WANT your younger one to emulate, instead of the reverse! We all enjoyed the night very much. To their dismay, there were no treats since we have OD'd on sugar this weekend! They both had an apple instead and were surprisingly completely fine with that.

I know this is long, but I also wanted to share a good quote from our lesson on Sunday about families- since it applies. It's from Elder Claudio Costa's talk "Don't Leave for Tomorrow What You Can Do Today". The title for the talk was inspired by a plane crash in Brazil that left a record 199 dead. One grieving husband wrote a poem about how he would act differently if he knew that he would never see his wife again. So the talk addresses how we should 'seize the day' and make right choices now, in relation to our family. Have prayer together, read scriptures, etc.

Elder Costas then talks about how Christ laid down His life for us, and says, "We can lay down our lives for those we love, not by physically dying for them but rather by living for them- giving of our time; always being present in their lives; serving them; being courteous, affectionate, and showing true love for those of our family an to all men- as the Savior taught."

I think it's good to have reminders about this. I guess I found it especially poignant because the lesson Jared and I taught on Sunday also talked about treating your spouse, children, and family members with kindness, and specifically focused on how anger is a choice and no one can ever 'make' you angry. After those two lessons, I felt like the common theme was being patient with those you love, giving of your time, and being the best 'you' that you can be because this is the time to do it!