Monday, 23 April 2012

The Race of Life

What with school holidays, visiting family and our Conference Highlight Night, tonight was our first FHE from the April 2012 General Conference...how time flies!!!



Where better to start than with the prophet's talk entitled 'The Race of Life'.  I focused on the part about the toy boats what with all my kids being young, so after dinner we set off for an adventure to a nearby canal.  Before we reached the water, we stopped to have a little lesson.  I asked the kids if they would be able to sprint to the top of the nearby steep hill, my 10yr old son was sure he would be able to do it, my daughters were not so confident...as we talked about the distant etc he realised that he wouldn't be able to do it either....but they all knew they could walk it, or even jog bits of it, because we had walked to the top several times before. As Thomas S. Monson said -

 “The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.”10
 Actually, the prize belongs to him or her who endures to the end.

We talked about what the above quote meant, and then shared with the children how President Monson made toy boats when he was a little boy, and that each of them had to find a 'boat' before we got to the canal so that we could race them.  We had all shapes and sizes, one sunk, several got stuck but the rest happily bobbed along the canal while we talked about the boats.  My daughter then read this quote from the talk -

Our Heavenly Father did not launch us on our eternal voyage without providing the means whereby we could receive from Him guidance to ensure our safe return. I speak of prayer. 
I speak too of the whisperings from that still, small voice; and I do not overlook the holy scriptures, which contain the word of the Lord and the words of the prophets—provided to us to help us successfully cross the finish line.

We asked the children what 3 things mentioned help us on our voyage here on earth, which they answered surprising quickly...normally we have to prompt them or reread it...and after that it was time for us to go home as several needed the toilet and one had trodden in something...ewww!!  We ate our treat on the quick march home.

After we all got cleaned up and before we had family prayer, we recapped on our little adventure and finished with this quote -

It is the celestial glory which we seek. It is in the presence of God we desire to dwell.
 It is a forever family in which we want membership. Such blessings are earned through a lifetime of striving, seeking, repenting, and finally succeeding.

The kids, went straight to sleep with no fuss tonight...I think we might have to have more FHE ramblings :)
I really like this bit at the end of the talk too...


I'm so grateful to know where I have come from, why I am here and where I am going, it has helped me so many times during my journey here on earth.....and I also need to remember that it's not a race and to slow down a bit too :)

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