I believe the Family Home Evening program was divinely inspired, and that the promises associated with having regular Family Home Evenings are sure and worth the time and effort.
Family Home Evening was first instituted in the early 1900's when the membership of the Church was admonished to bring their families together one night a week for gospel instruction. Then it was emphasized again in the 1960's with a manual much like the Gospel Principles manual. I don't think many families were plugged into FHE at the time. But during my senior year when I was at BYU, our wards were divided into Family Home Evening groups which met together each week to ostensibly discuss some gospel principle. Instead those meetings were a hot bed for flirting, pairing off, and getting a date for the next day's Devotional or the Friday night stomp. I sincerely do not remember ever having a real lesson.
Could be because I was smitten with the guy who had been put in charge of the group--Larry Dilly. Larry Dilly--just returned from a mission, in pre-med, an Idaho farm boy, and the object of my romantic desires. He had the dark hair that always captivated me--no blondie for my dream guy! Apparently, he had also been bitten by the love bug, and miraculously, it was I who was the object of HIS fancy.
It didn't take long before our friendship was soon moving toward something more serious. By Thanksgiving, and then Christmas we were seeing each other all the time. I even stayed longer at BYU for the Christmas break because Larry was staying longer, I think for the campus job he had. It was sooo hard to say goodbye for the holidays
I had lavished the little money I had on Larry for what I thought was a mighty fine present. No gift for me, but he sent flowers to me in Rawlins. Expectations for commitment were running high on my end. I could hardly wait to get back to Provo for finals in January. I was sure there might be something we wanted to discuss. I imagined it all in my mind. The wedding, the marriage. Yes. YES. YES!!! I would support him in school clear through his becoming a full-fledged doctor. I would give my almost free-of-school life for him!
Imagine my surprise when classes resumed in January and instead of our relationship racheting up, Larry was clearly not interested in me any more. Family Home Evening became awkward and downright painful for me. It wasn't long before I was done with THAT little bit of gospel learning.
Fast forward a few years during which I met Ross, we got married, had Harold and Brice, and moved to the Welch Court house. It was the early 70's. The Church came out with a whole different sort of FHE manual. Family friendly and full of fun ideas. It was our weekly "Bible" when it came to holding FHE. There was a new manual every year, and every year we had every lesson in the book . Little by little, we added our own special "TRA -NICHOLS-TIONS" to make Monday night--literally from supper through bedtime--a true Nichols Family Home Evening.
By then I was well aware that the efforts made to hold Family Home Evening were worth their weight in gold. That consistent practice was the glue that held us together through good times, and a lot of years that weren't so good. I am so grateful that the kids loved FHE, too. Our kids would never accept an invitation to do something with a friend on Monday night. FHE was too fun to miss, so they invited their friends to come and be with US. So friends often came and joined in the fun.
Well, Family Home Evening has been so ingrained in my life that I still have it. Usually for one, though. Louis has never warmed up to the enthusiasm the Nichols Family always had for FHE. No matter where I am on Monday night, I have FHE in my hotel room. I sing "There Is Beauty All Around", say the opening prayer, and have a lesson for one. Sometimes it is a Conference Address, sometimes an article in the Ensign. Often I set aside BYU Magazine so I can use the one spiritual article in each issue for one of my FHE lessons. Then I work a cross word puzzle or read a chapter in a book for my activity and end the night with a treat, just like always.
Tonight I picked up the SPRING 2017 BYU Magazine which has been sitting on my kitchen desk ever since it arrived in the mail, just waiting for my personal "FHE for ONE". Good article from Matthew O. Richardson's Devotional Address last October about his four BYU mementos.
The best part was the many aphorisms he quoted--true golden nuggets. And because I am still an aphorism addict, I add them here to share their wisdom and food for thought.
Ezra Taft Benson: "It is our privilege to store our memories with good and great thoughts and bring them out on the stage of our minds at will."
Spencer W. Kimball: "When you look in the dictionary for the most important word, do you know what it is? It could be remember...."
Winston Churchill: "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."
Karl G. Maeser: "Be yourself, but always your better self."
Jeffrey R. Holland: "You gotta believe...you gotta believe." [That God will work his mighty miracles for you, too.]
Pick one of these little golden nuggets and make it yours--for a day, a week, a month--and see if it doesn't bring a patina to some aspect of your life that might need uplift. There are great lessons here. Mine them....
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