I love Family Home Evening. I can't say that I've loved every single FHE I've ever been part of, but I definitely have a testimony of it's importance in strengthening family relationships. My parents made it a priority in our home, and I'm grateful for that. When I spent a month with my grandparents, I orchestrated FHEs with the three of us, which they admitted they hadn't done for awhile. The format changed over the years, naturally, and it wasn't always on Monday, the traditional FHE night, but we always had it.
I've continued to make it a priority even out of my parent's home. I only have vague memories of attending in my BYU wards, both freshman year and the year after I graduated, but I know I attended when I could. I've made more of an effort here in DC, attending as often as I can, fully participating, and actually getting to know the members of my group. I don't attend every week, sometimes because there is a conflict and sometimes because I just don't feel like it (one of the perks of it not being a real family just yet), but I generally enjoy it when I do.
Socially, it's just my speed. A small group (instead of large), a lesson, and an activity, usually with treats. Being an FHE co-chair was a fun calling, even if surprisingly stressful sometimes. And post-FHE activities were good times - going out to dinner, playing video games, or watching "Heroes" (and, for awhile, watching "Heroes" whilst surreptitiously holding hands with a guy from my group who then wouldn't call me again until 7:17 on Friday night to get together to watch a movie, and since being low on someone else's priority list really isn't my style, this only lasted about a month).
Unfortunately, I've had a hard time wanting to attend lately. We don't have the most well-organized group, which doesn't seem to be planned very far in advance, and if I don't know what it is I'm driving upwards of 30 minutes to do after a long day, I'm not always keen to go.
I'm glad I went tonight though. The boundaries for my FHE group are on the far west side of the ward, but we were meeting at the bishop's home, on the far east end. It was a bit of a drive, but I was looking forward to it.
Apparently, I was the only one. Somehow, it was just me, the bishop, and his wife. And, it was lovely. They offered me dinner, which I happily accepted, having not been home yet, and we sat around the kitchen table chatting as I munched on a chicken sandwich, chips, and mint chocolate chip ice cream. Bishop did make sure I had a lesson - "Be good."
I think I can handle that.
The rest of my group really missed out on getting to know this lovely couple better.
What about you? If you have Family Home Evening, what do you do to make it an enjoyable part of your week?
1 comment:
We still try to do something resembling FHE every week, even though we are all very much adults and I have to go to bed very early Monday night. Sometimes it's as simple as a discussion about a gospel principle during Sunday dinner. What matters is that we're together, we're talking about the scriptures, and we love each other.
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