Blessings and Miracles Week 4

I know this is almost a week late, but I have a good excuse I moved over the weekend and I am a bit tired. However that is no excuse for not posting so I decided to get this posted and then try to get back on schedule. As I was reflecting over the past couple of weeks about what I am thankful for I keep going to my childhood and how I was influenced for the better. There are a lot of things I learned as a child that I can definitely improve upon in my adulthood because I know better, but I am grateful to them nonetheless. One of the great blessings in my life is family home evening. Every week on Monday my parents would begin the unenviable task of rounding up children that did not want to be round up. What was the purpose of this task? to sit everyone down, sing, have prayer, a lesson, a scripture, more singing, family planning and sharing, more singing, and a prayer. This was usually followed up by dessert, and once in awhile family night would be in the form of a family game such as baseball. With 6 boys and 2 girls you can imagine the chore of getting everyone home, rounded up, excited about family night, and actually have them prepare lessons and such. The older the child usually the less enthused he was; I say he as it was usually the boys that had better ideas. Looking back now I see how much I grew from sitting with the family (even though I may not have been enthused about it then) and hearing about each others day as well as having a spiritual meeting to start the week. That spiritual meeting which lasted anywhere from an hour to two hours (usually an hour) prepared us for the week ahead and made us stronger and ready to face any challenges. Our family has always been really close and I thank the family home evenings for making us that way. It seemed so hard as a child to be a part of that experience every week even though we knew not to plan anything for Monday night and to be home to be with the family. As a father I can appreciate the experience that it gave me and how I would like my children to have a similar experience as they grow up. With so much television, electronic games, the Internet, and just worldly experiences children need a stable strength that will help direct them in time of need. We go to church every Sunday and that instills in them the gospel and strength within the church; each Monday we reaffirm that strength and our children can see that this isn't a once a week thing, but a lifestyle we believe and practice. Each week we give our time, our efforts, our knowledge, and our spirits to each other to strengthen and help one another. Because of this once a week activity I am stronger, more blessed, and have less doubt about my purpose here on this earth. I may not have all the answers, but I do know where to find them and for that I am eternally grateful.