Week 8.5 More on Overcoming Challenges (2 of 2 posts)

I've been noticing a lot of frustration, chaos, bad attitudes, jealousy, anger, fighting, pessimism, critical words, unkind body language, distraction and short fuses in our home lately...by ALL of us. I keep trying to change things that I know are problems, trying to work on home management skills, healthy communication, cause and effect with extra chores given for negative behaviors...but I feel that my efforts are getting me centimeters of progress, or backsliding further. I have been quick to forget even when I make a plan and start to implement, the natural man in me is so strong trying to stay where I am and not change even as my spirit reaches and longs for the needed change in myself, my home and family.

After feeling the decline of the spirit in my home, and praying and pondering about a solution for a while, I woke up with these specific words in my mind. Upon searching, I found that they originated from a talk given by Boyd K Packer in 1986 in a talk titled, "Little Children", (before I was born). The scripture is true that says that the Holy Ghost shall "teach you all things, and bring all things to your rememberance" (John 14:26), and "by the power of the Holy Ghost, ye may know that truth of all things" (Moroni 10:5). The spirit did bring this to my mind whether I heard it quoted from someone else or I remember it from before I was born;)

Specific spiritual direction:

• Study Come Follow Me as a family
• Have FUN together, (In Family Home Evening and else wear)
• Make family meals a priority
• Take the time to pray fervently with and for my family.
• Take turns reading aloud and discussing together the Book of Mormon with Jenna and Hannah specifically. (help with learning doctrines, changing attitudes and behaviors, building faith, and reading skills as well)
• My friend April at TJED commonwealth school brought up the idea of a morning basket with morning family devotional items in it. I could keep J, H, and My scriptures in there to read at the table, along with a friend magazine, and poetry, family read aloud...I like the idea of having it all in one place. (Just checked on my friend magazine subscription ordered end of September, It should be coming soon! I miss having it laying around the house to be picked up through the day;)

We have been neglecting to study come follow me as a family, I have been listening to conference talks each morning but it's before anybody is awake. We have half-hearted family prayers at night and the meals that we actually sit down together, not that often lately either. I've been going to sleep with kids while Ryan stays up doing homework/work, I wake up at 3-5am to do homework before kids are awake. I am feeling like a negative Nancy and am having a hard time noticing and feeling loved and blessed. I've been feeling really bad about myself and am taking out all my frustrations on my family. (Especially since Hannah's dentist appointment and finding out her teeth are rotting around many old cavity fillings and all over her mouth...eek! this scares me).
I feel like we need to change our home environment in many ways. I go back and forth from overwhelmed to hopeful and know that satan and his angels are working on me overtime...I must be doing a great work! I also know that My Savior and His angels are more powerful and are working together to lift me. I know that the atonement of Jesus Christ has the power to strengthen me and help my small and simple efforts become something great! All things are possible through Christ who strengthens me. I can do this! I can strengthen my family by my example, by my mothering, managing and nurturing efforts and call upon every angel who can be spared to protect me from evil as I pray, show my faith, and work hard to be humble and guided by the spirit and implement a healthier faith-filled happier lifestyle with my family.

Another cool thing! Since that day (Thursday 10/31/19 last week) that I woke up with those thoughts, another was right out of reach in my mind. I know I read it recently about strengthening the home and family by coming unto Christ and that instead of teaching what not to do, "don't think you're better than your sister, stop doing this, stop doing that"...bring the children unto Christ...something like that, I couldn't even figure out how to search for it and just couldn't remember who had talked about it. This morning! I remembered it was President Eyring, with a quick search, I found it! A Home Where the Spirit of the Lord Dwells April 2019 General Conference! I'm so happy! Here are a few lines from the talk I loved:

• You could have limited success by calling a child to repent, for instance, of pride. You might try persuading children to share what they have more generously. You could ask them to stop feeling they are better than someone else in the family. But then you come to the symptom I described earlier as “They began to diminish in their faith in Jesus Christ.”
• As you help them grow in faith that Jesus Christ is their loving Redeemer, they will feel a desire to repent. As they do, humility will begin to replace pride. As they begin to feel what the Lord has given them, they will want to share more generously. Rivalry for prominence or recognition will diminish. Hate will be driven out by love. And finally, like it did for the people converted by King Benjamin, the desire to do good will fortify them against temptation to sin. King Benjamin’s people testified that they had “no more disposition to do evil.”3
• "So building faith in Jesus Christ is the beginning of reversing spiritual decline in your family and in your home. That faith is more likely to bring repentance than your preaching against each symptom of spiritual decline."