FHE

Last night for Family Night I had planned a short lesson. Michael (16yr old) had a fair bit of homework to do and I wanted to keep the lesson short so he could work on it. When the time came to gather together he refused to come down to join us. I started to get angry and use my 'I am the mother and you will obey' voice. Next step was my husband going up and would make sure Michael would come and join us. I knew that IF Michael did come to join us after being FORCED to participate, then the message of the lesson would be lost and it would have been a pointless experience.

So....if Michael won't come to the family, the family will go to Michael. We went up and sat around where he was doing his homework. We sang our song and said our prayer. I don't know that he sang or even closed his eyes during prayer. That was not important to me. What was important was that he wasn't kicking up a fuss that we were there.

I started the lesson by sharing a story about the 'Candy Bomber'. How he dropped candy to the children in Germany during the war. How it must have lifted the spirits and given them a boost to keep hoping for a better future. I showed a picture of this man, Gail Halvorsen, and mentioned that when my sister was on her mission in Germany, she actually met this man. The picture and the family 'connection' interested Michael and he, without realizing, was participating in FHE.

The next part of the lesson was about Captain Moroni and the title of liberty. We spoke about how Moroni's efforts would have lifted the spirits of the Nephites and how they would continue hoping for a better future than the one Amalickiah was wanting for everyone.

We spoke about the things that were written on the title of liberty; In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children and how they should also be our focus. If we keep those most important things THE most important things, then everything else will work out.

FHE was short and sweet and what made it even sweeter was the 'unintentional' participation of Michael. Hopefully one day Michael will be able to sing "This is the night we've waited for" to his own children.