March 2013, SLC Temple Square.
Haha! My blog, my post... You'll have to scroll through a few pictures to get to the lesson. This was a great day with 4 of my girls! We had so much fun and made some great memories. 512 pictures and I only posted a few. This is an example of taking a day and making it count! This life... treasure every moment. :)
There was only one more YW Broadcast ever!! 2014 was the end. After that it was changed to the Women's Meeting and now includes all girls 8 and older. A great change, but I am so glad I took my girl's up in 2013 and spent the entire day with them on Temple Square for one of the very last Young Women General Meetings. Love my girls! They are so much fun. :)
FHE -- This Life. Do we treasure every moment? Good, Better, Best
OPENING SONG: "Home Can Be a Heaven on Earth" Hymnbook #298
OPENING PRAYER: (to be assigned)
SCRIPTURE: Luke 10:40-42
40 But
Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said,
Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid
her therefore that she help me.
41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. What are we doing with this life?
2. Are we spending it on things that make us better, brighter, and more able to help our friends and family do the same?
3. Do we treasure every moment?
LESSON: "Good, Better, Best" by Dallin H. Oaks
We should begin by recognizing the reality that just because something is good
is not a sufficient reason for doing it. The number of good things we
can do far exceeds the time available to accomplish them. Some things
are better than good, and these are the things that should command
priority attention in our lives.
In choosing how we spend time as a family, we should be careful not to
exhaust our available time on things that are merely good and leave
little time for that which is better or best. A friend took his young
family on a series of summer vacation trips, including visits to
memorable historic sites. At the end of the summer he asked his teenage
son which of these good summer activities he enjoyed most. The father
learned from the reply, and so did those he told of it. “The thing I
liked best this summer,” the boy replied, “was the night you and I laid
on the lawn and looked at the stars and talked.” Super family activities
may be good for children, but they are not always better than
one-on-one time with a loving parent.
The amount of children-and-parent time absorbed in the good activities
of private lessons, team sports, and other school and club activities
also needs to be carefully regulated. Otherwise, children will be
overscheduled, and parents will be frazzled and frustrated. Parents
should act to preserve time for family prayer, family scripture study,
family home evening, and the other precious togetherness and individual
one-on-one time that binds a family together and fixes children’s values
on things of eternal worth. Parents should teach gospel priorities
through what they do with their children.
Family
experts have warned against what they call “the overscheduling of
children.” In the last generation children are far busier and families
spend far less time together. Among many measures of this disturbing
trend are the reports that structured sports time has doubled, but
children’s free time has declined by 12 hours per week, and unstructured
outdoor activities have fallen by 50 percent.
2
The
number of those who report that their “whole family usually eats dinner
together” has declined 33 percent. This is most concerning because the
time a family spends together “eating meals at home [is] the strongest
predictor of children’s academic achievement and psychological
adjustment.”
3
Family mealtimes have also been shown to be a strong bulwark against children’s smoking, drinking, or using drugs.
4
There is inspired wisdom in this advice to parents: what your children really want for dinner is you.
President
Gordon B. Hinckley has pleaded that we “work at our responsibility as
parents as if everything in life counted on it, because in fact
everything in life does count on it.”
He
continued: “I ask you men, particularly, to pause and take stock of
yourselves as husbands and fathers and heads of households. Pray for
guidance, for help, for direction, and then follow the whisperings of
the Spirit to guide you in the most serious of all responsibilities, for
the consequences of your leadership in your home will be eternal and
everlasting.”
5
The First Presidency has called on parents “to devote their best efforts
to the teaching and rearing of their children in gospel principles. …
The home is the basis of a righteous life, and no other instrumentality
can take its place … in … this God-given responsibility.” The First
Presidency has declared that “however worthy and appropriate other
demands or activities may be, they must not be permitted to displace the
divinely-appointed duties that only parents and families can adequately
perform.”
6
Questions for discussion:
Are we choosing the good, the better, or the best as a family?
Are there any changes we need to make as a family to make sure we are not over scheduled?
What can we improve on?
How are you willing to help?
ACTIVITY: Play a game together! (We are going to play badminton.)
CLOSING SONG: "Families Can Be Together Forever" Hymnbook #300
CLOSING PRAYER: (to be assigned)
REFRESHMENTS: Homemade Ice Cream in a Bag. (Sorry, I don't have it blogged yet)! :(
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