Families Can Be Together Forever

I have a confession to make. I really don't like having to do Sharing Time at Church. It's not that I don't like the "doing" part...I love interacting with the kids, who are usually SO sweet (well...except on "those days" where nothing/no one cooperates)...but it's the figuring out WHAT I'm going to do, how I'm going to do it, and gear it toward a huge range of ages (3 to 11) and tie it in with the weekly theme. That part I don't like. I'm the one who suggested that we, as a presidency, each take a month at a time...because while I don't enjoy having to do it for a whole month, I do LOVE having 2 months off, so it's worth it!

At any rate, I LOVED working on this Sharing Time. the monthly theme was about how Temple work strengthens our families and the weekly theme dealt more specifically with genealogy. I decided to do a picture family tree of my own family, beginning with me (on my first day of Kindergarten). I already had most of the photos I'd need, but I had to solicit a few from family members.

My plan was to share (very briefly) what I loved about each of my parents, grandparents and great grandparents, including some visual aides (dolls, sewing stuff, pancake syrup, a book on submarines, etc.). I knew that the kids in our Primary LOVE real stories...and true to form, they sat captivated for this. They especially loved all the uniforms in the pictures, as most of their dads wear uniforms, too.

The message I left with them was that the more they take an interest in and get to know their ancestors, the more they will love them. I left them with a couple of questions to ask their grandparents or aunts and uncles next time they go to visit them or talk to them on the phone so that they can begin to get to know them better, and I encouraged them to write what they found out in their journals.

Cliff sneaked into the back to listen, and when it was over said, "I know what WE'RE doing for Family Home Evening tomorrow." So since only Jake (and Cliff) had to sit through this the first time, I did the whole thing over again for the rest of the family on Monday. The picture above is of the dining room wall with pictures removed, where I taped up my display, since I had no big, rolling whiteboard with magnets at home.

By the way, for those of you that are enlarging this photo for a better look...the extra picture on the right (of my great grandparents and their two boys) was so that I could talk about my great uncle who died in WWII, and how even amid all the pain, my great-grandma, rather than becoming swallowed up in pity or bitterness, chose instead to spend the rest of her days volunteering at the VA hospital--thousands of hours.

I had SO much fun preparing this Sharing Time. It reminded me of how much I love my family, and how I hope to be with them forever. I loved sharing what I love about them with others, and it was wonderful to ponder on some things that make each of them special.