How do we teach our children that a life of chaos is not the terrific “fun” that the world would have them believe? Here is perhaps one approach. Time for some FHE Fun!
Opening Song. #255 Carry On https://www.lds.org/churchmusic/detailmusicPlayer/index.html?searchlanguage=1&searchcollection=1&searchseqstart=255&searchsubseqstart=%20&searchseqend=255&searchsubseqend=ZZZ
Opening Prayer. By invitation.
Emergency Preparedness Moment. What emergency preparedness activity would you like to do this week for your family? Make this a matter of prayer and you will be surprised at the promptings you can receive. These few minutes every seven days during FHE can help your children be ready for a variety of emergencies. Problem solving skills, first aid skills, putting together backpack 72-hour kits, or any other kind of creative endeavor shows your family you love them and teaches them how to take care of themselves in tough scenarios. What will you choose this week?
Devotional. Devotionals can be a way to bring a sweet spirit to FHE and to show your children you value the scriptures. Try using a “favorite verse” time to jumpstart the actual FHE lesson. A moment of short-verse-reading-and-testimony-sharing can bring a powerful spirit to your home and help settle the children for a more spiritual FHE learning time.
Lesson.
(Note: You are the one blessed by the Lord to know what your family needs spiritually during weekly FHEs. Feel free to get ideas from the sample lesson listed below, but make sure to go to the Lord in prayer to determine what your family really needs for this week. It might be something completely different!)
Items Needed:
Box of toothpicks
Construction paper, tape, glue, or other miscellaneous craft items
Index cards and pens
1. Invite the family to join you at the kitchen table. After everyone is seated around it, pass out a handful of toothpicks to each member (who can safely use them). Let the group know you are going to create something-anything the family desires-with the toothpicks as the main building pieces. Show them the craft supplies and then let them begin discussing what the group wants to make.
2. Once the decision is made, quietly oversee the process to help make sure that everyone has a little bit of input. Let the family take about 15 minutes to complete their creation.
Once the project is finished, ask the family to look at what they created. Just a few minutes ago, nothing like that existed in the world. Now, due to group effort, a new entity has been born.
Move that item to another location and then pass out a second handful of toothpicks to each person. Ask them simply to toss the toothpicks gently at the middle of the table…all at the same time. What was the end result?
Summary.
Read the following quote from President Spencer W. Kimball (12th president of the church):
“Your life is your own, to develop or to destroy. We have this life of limited years in which to learn of God, to become the masters of our own destiny…” (Spencer W. Kimball, “President Kimball Speaks Out on Planning Your Life,” New Era, Sep 1981, 47).
Explain that while some people may choose to simply toss themselves crazily at life-much like the family just threw toothpicks at the center of the table-that approach leads to a chaotic life.
President Kimball also said:
“Free agency gives you the right to choose, but it gives you no immunity from the deprivation and sufferings which wrong decisions bring. Once you have set your feet upon the highway of life, the turning is not easy, especially if that highway be filled with heavy traffic and if it be a downward road.
“Your life is your own, to develop or to destroy. You can blame others little and yourself almost totally if that life is not a productive, worthy, full, and abundant one. Others can assist or hinder you, but the responsibility is yours and you can make it great, mediocre, or a failure” (Ibid.)
Invite the children to summarize why the first toothpick activity led to an interesting composition, whereas the second toothpick activity led to nothing but a chaotic mess. You may want to ask someone to share thoughts about how President Kimball’s words-if listened to-will lead to a life well lived.
End by passing out an index card for each person, plus a pen. Invite the group to write down a change they privately want to make so their life will be better planned and have superior outcomes as a result. What will they choose to live deliberately so they can have a life of joy and order?
Close by reading the following words to the closing song that the family will sing in just a moment.
Ask the group to notice the phrases that show deliberate order and “planning”:
“God planned the day; he planned the night.
“He gave the darkness, then the light.
“The sky of blue, the sun so bright,
“Because He loves me.”
You may want to end by sharing your thoughts and testimony regarding the Lord’s desire for all His children to live happy lives…and that when we are ordered, the results are far better than when we simply subsist in a life of chaos.
Closing Song. #234 Because God Loves Me. https://www.lds.org/churchmusic/detailmusicPlayer/index.html?searchlanguage=1&searchcollection=2&searchseqstart=234&searchsubseqstart=%20&searchseqend=234&searchsubseqend=ZZZ
Closing Prayer. By invitation.
Struggling with your teens? C.S. Bezas’ book is an essential help for parents and youth leaders. Powerful Tips for Powerful Teachers teaches you how to create powerful change. Visit your local LDS bookstore or get your copy online here.
