The Great Things I Hope For

When singing special musical numbers during sacrament meetings, I am always wary; I want to make sure the focus of the meeting is on Christ and His Gospel, and not on people's musical ability.  That being said, my family apparently received many, many compliments last Sunday after six of us sang "Sleep, Little Jesus" together.

I had a couple of coughing children to take home, so I was able to dodge the acclaim.  And I don't know how much we succeeded in inviting the Holy Ghost more than showing off singing ability; that's hard to tell.  But apparently we sang very well.  People told my wife more than once that day that they love it when our family sings.

What makes that kind of singing possible?  Sure, my wife and I are musically competent, though very far from being as skilled as a professional.  We're not wealthy enough for personal vocal instruction for the kids, though we have been able to get some piano lessons for them.  We definitely did some practicing throughout the week, but the kids have enough musical ability already that we can put together a decent song as a group.  What has brought that about?

If our family being able to sing together is a "great thing", then I think what makes it possible is one of those "small and simple things" (Alma 37:6).  Specifically, we sing together (almost) every night as part of our Family Time tradition I wrote about previously.  Each night we sing a hymn or a children's song--just one song, usually.  Over the years, that little bit of continual practice must have had an effect.  My wife considers us to finally be in the "reward" period, where we get to really enjoy singing together with the children, after years of small efforts.

But that daily singing is the least important part of our Family Time tradition.  While I believe music is important, the more important counsel we're trying to follow is the daily family scripture study and prayer.  If daily singing slowly builds our musical ability so that now we can rejoice in the "great thing" of family musical numbers, what great things will come from our small and simple daily scripture study and prayer?

I'm not sure what those great things will be, but I do believe Alma's words that, "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass".  As I said last time, I think that this simple nightly tradition is the most important thing I do, and I believe that it really will bless my children.

Last thoughts for now:
Daily scripture study and prayer are "small and simple things"; we have promises from the Creator of the Universe that they will bring about great things.  Perhaps the great thing they will bring is a solid faith in Christ that will guide my children throughout their lives.  Maybe it will be the traditions that they carry on with their own families.  Maybe it will include greater ability to meaningfully ponder God's word and to converse with others about it.  Maybe it will be all of that and more.

The Most Important Thing I Do

 A while back, I was sitting in on a class held for United States Military Academy cadets by the Church Educational System's Institute of Religion.  I don't remember what the lesson was that evening, but at some point I was thinking about my family's nightly Family Time tradition.  I wrote a post about this back in October 2013, and we still do largely the same thing almost every night.  Essentially, we sing together, we study scripture together, and we pray together.  Recently, we've also often been reviewing personal goals, and of course, we have an extended Home Evening with a lesson, which we now have on Sundays, following a suggestion from Elder Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the October 2018 general conference.  It may seem a simple thing for me, my wife, and my children to take a few minutes for reverence and devotion to God, but as I sat in the Institute class, somehow the thought came to me that Family Time is the most important thing I do.

I hadn't really considered it like that before.  Of course, I know it has been important to me, or I wouldn't have kept up such a tradition for so long.  But when I think about the real, lasting impact of everything I do in life, I don't think anything else will be more important than this simple tradition.  Through it, we're able to learn together and grow spiritually; we're able to provide our children with the knowledge they need to navigate through the trials and confusion of life.  Through it, we find greater unity as a family.  Through it, we remind ourselves daily of how to live as disciples of Christ.

I do other good things in life, whether in Church service, at work, other activities with my family, or just by taking advantage of opportunities when they arise at random, but I don't think the real, lasting impact approaches what I achieve through daily singing, scripture study, and prayer with my family.

It was fascinating to consider.  In the days that have followed, I haven't changed my mind.

Last thoughts for now:
Someday my family will start shrinking as my adult children move out and begin their own lives.  Eventually, we presumably won't have any children remaining at home.  Family Time will be a bit different then as we don't have any children to teach.  In one sense, I think I will have a feeling of, "Mission Accomplished" when that day comes.  I expect that my wife and I will carry on the tradition, but simply focus more on what interests the two of us.  I hope that our children will have similar traditions with their future spouses and children, and I expect that my wife and I will want to join our children's family traditions when possible.  For now, I happily carry on the event each night.  I love it.  And I truly believe that it's the most important thing I do.

Fisher Family Traditions: Family Time

I've always found it important to re-evaluate the way we do things and make changes as necessary (which should be normal, really, if we're repenting as we should).  However, when we think we've got a good idea we tend to want to hold onto it.  One of our favorite family traditions is something call Family Time.

Family Time is a lot like Family Home Evening, except that it's simpler and we do it every day.  In the Church we've repeatedly been counseled to pray together daily as a family and to read scriptures together daily.  We've also been counseled that music invites the Holy Ghost.  These things are the foundation of Family Time.

A while back we also picked up a part I called "gathering".  With that added in, here's how our tradition goes before the kids' bedtime:

Gathering consists of tidying up the living room (which helps Mama to keep the house clean) and then sitting reverently while I play some music on the piano (generally from the Children's Songbook).  I explain to the kids that when we're reverent, we listen to the Holy Ghost, and I sometimes ask what the Holy Ghost told them.  I figure that by practicing reverence at home, the kids will be better at being reverent at church and at other appropriate times.

After gathering, we sing a song together.  For now this is usually from the Children's Songbook instead of the Hymnal.  Sometimes we sing a song that we don't know well, and occasionally one that none of us has even heard before.  If we need to, one of the parents speaks a line of the lyrics before we sing them.  We then read several verses of scripture.  The passage could be as short as two verses (not very often at all) or even a whole chapter (also not very often), though usually it's closer to five or six verses.  The length of the passage is not really important; mostly we want to talk about whatever idea or ideas are contained in the given passage.  We've been reading the Book of Mormon from the beginning, and after a few years we're almost through 3 Nephi.  We give everyone a chance to "read"; the younger kids repeat back the words of a verse as a parent reads them. (At one point our three-year old displayed some unwillingness to participate; we used his natural sense of possessiveness to our advantage.  We ask, "Who gets to read Marshall's verse?" to which he happily raises his hand and says, "Me!"  It works almost without fail.)  As the kids participate this way they're also practicing their skills with either reading or memory.  Depending on what the passage, we might even act out what we've read so that the kids can better understand.  After we've read scripture we pray.  For this prayer we kneel in a circle, and lately we've taken to also holding hands as well.

We try to keep up the tradition even when it's not convenient, such as when travelling.  We've even had Family Time in the van.  Sometimes we cut it a little bit short if necessary, though I'm always wary of selling ourselves short.  The kids are accustomed to it and prod us as well.  When we've wanted to keep it short by just having a family prayer, our sweet little three-year-old reminds us that we "forgot to read scriptures".  Because of his encouragement, I've made sure to make the effort to read together even if it's late.

When we get the opportunity, we invite others to participate in our Family Time.  It's a treat for us, and it provides a missionary experience as well when our guests are not members of the Church.  I think it's one of the best ways to bring the Holy Ghost to people.

And, on Mondays, we have Family Home evening, which at a minimum also includes an opening prayer and a lesson but often also involves testimonies, an activity, and a treat.

Last thoughts for now:
Family Time is a wonderful tradition for us.  I know that our family and our individual children are strengthened because of it.  The kids expect it, and while we still need a lot of practice being reverent, they're learning a bit every day.  I'm grateful for the counsel of living prophets and am glad that we've found a good tradition by which we can obey that counsel.