"Mothers who know are always teachers. Since they are not babysitters, they are never off duty. A well-taught friend told me that he did not learn anything at church that he had not already learned at home. His parents used family scripture study, prayer, family home evening, mealtimes, and other gatherings to teach. Think of the power of our future missionary force if mothers considered their homes as a pre–missionary training center. Then the doctrines of the gospel taught in the MTC would be a review and not a revelation. That is influence; that is power."
Sister Julie B. Beck, "Mothers Who Know" General Conference Oct. 2007I absolutely love this talk and I keep coming back to it. It has been impressed upon my mind recently, how little time we really have with our children to teach, nurture, and influence. One of the greatest desires of my heart, is for my children to have strong testimonies of the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. This will not happen without much effort from me.
I am continually amazed at how receptive and willing they are to learn. They love reading scriptures together and are always sad when we have to stop. This gladdens my heart and inspires me to do more. There is always so much that can be done...
Here are a couple of things that have worked - off and on - in our family.
This is one that I really should start doing again. It is so simple. Basically, you start from the beginning and go over the scripture story on the back of the first picture. We would then display the picture for the day, moving on to the second picture the next day. We were doing this during breakfast and loving it.
I try to spend some one on one time with the kids before they actually go to sleep. This usually happens when I go in to say goodnight and end up laying down with them. They are given free reign to talk about whatever is on their mind. This has led to many teaching moments and has helped me to learn what is happening in their hearts. They love this time to have me to themselves. I am told many secrets...
I would love to get more ideas!
What works for your family?
I remember learning a lot of the really cool scripture stories from my dad when he would tell them as bedtime stories to us. Shadrak, Meshak, and Abednigo was one of the favorites- I know I butchered the spelling but you know who I mean!
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I have loved at Hanks school is that they have a new bible memory verse every week. It is short and simple but it gets him to read one every day. They get a reward on Friday when they recite it their teacher. But you could do something like this at home.
ReplyDeleteJust had to check out the "famous" post! That really was a great talk.
ReplyDeleteYour blog looks so good -- so crafty. Makes mine look so "professional." I would have no idea how to make mine so cute.
I think I'll dig my Gospel Art Kit out again...
I need to get one of those kits. By the way, can I borrow your brain for a day? Just 24 hours, that way I can come up with some cool ideas! Mine doesn't seem to work that way, lol!
ReplyDeleteOur RS Presidency lesson series have focused on this talk. I just taught "Mothers who know are Teachers" this past weekend. I loved that talk too! (hence the series) One great way I have found to "teach" the gospel is to share with my kids the miracles and blessings that I see happen each day in our lives. It could be that I had a particular prompting and acted on it or how I saw the hand of the Lord in my life that day. Most of all to teach them gratitude! I loved the idea of Pres. Eyrings Gratitude journal and so I made one for each of my kids for them to record their own. Love you!!
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