Our Anchor - Part Two - Family

Family is part two of our anchor. I know that may sound crazy, since we live in a world where families are getting shoved aside, but your family is always there for you even when you don't think so. Everyone has arguments and disagreements but deep down families are close-knit kin. Really think about it; your family was there at the beginning and will be there till the end. And even if they're not here here, as in they've passed on, that doesn't mean that they're not in your heart. Yes, that's what everyone says but it's true. Remember the good times and the bad times and all the time in between.

Dieter F. Uchtdorf said that one "key relationship is with our families. Since “no other success can compensate for failure” here, we must place high priority on our families. We build deep and loving family relationships by doing simple things together, like family dinner and family home evening and by just having fun together. In family relationships love is really spelled t-i-m-e, time. Taking time for each other is the key for harmony at home. We talk with, rather than about, each other. We learn from each other, and we appreciate our differences as well as our commonalities. We establish a divine bond with each other as we approach God together through family prayer, gospel study, and Sunday worship."1
It also seems like we spend a lot of time with family. Vacations, family nights, etc.
Studies have shown that when we participate in family dinner it helps children become academically boosted and have positive family interactions.2 (Please note that this does not mean it applies to everyone.) With that in hand, I challenge you, if you don't do this already, to have at least one meal a week with your family. Something else to try is, even when one person is done ask them to stay and talk with everyone else. Another suggestion would be to try Bedtime Math. What happens with that is you get an email every day with math questions for younger to older kids. I don't particularly like math but Bedtime Math is pretty entertaining. (Although, be warned, some of the questions are not that well thought out and the Big Kid Bonus ones can be kind of complected.)
Family time is essential and means more, especially to children, then you could imagine.


1 Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Of Things that Matter Most
2  http://www.human.cornell.edu/pam/outreach/upload/Family-Mealtimes-2.pdf