When life gets crazy or busy or just generally stress-inducing it can be challenging to feel peace. It can also feel overstimulating and if you’re like me, that can lead to a much shorter temper. I want to share five ways that my family is working to have a more Christ centered home. We have found that doing these things helps with the general mood of the whole household, and it helps me be more patient so my temper doesn’t get the best of me.
The five ways are (in no particular order of importance):
- Family Home Evening
- Family Prayer
- Listening to Gospel Music
- Service
- Personal Scripture Study and Prayer
Family Home Evening
Family Home Evening (FHE) is a recommended family activity from my church that is typically held on Monday nights. It can be held any night of the week, so whatever night works best for you, you should go with! It’s general purpose is to have a night set aside for some type of gospel related activity, which makes it a great way to build a Christ centered home.
Growing up, I remember each member of the family would rotate getting to do part of FHE. It consisted of opening prayer, song, lesson, closing prayer, and treat. The treat was usually my favorite responsibility! This type of format works really well for kids around ages 4 and up and is a great way to teach little children about Jesus in simple terms that they can understand. I will use this more formal structure once Vivs is a little older and can understand what’s going on.
Right now, my family’s FHE consists of reading a couple of verses of scriptures and sometimes singing a children’s gospel song. Some weeks we forget, but we’re trying to get more consistent. We’ve noticed when we have time dedicated to give to the Lord, our household runs much more peacefully.
Family Prayer
I remember having family prayer almost every night when I was little. We always had a group hug at the end that usually had toddlers bouncing around the middle! I didn’t realize until I was older that most families didn’t do that 😅.
As an adult, I realize how much family prayer can promote unity of the family. We are taking time as a family to commune with God about gratitude, concerns we have, people we love, etc. I personally recommend having family hug after because it completes prayer with loving physical contact that also encourages unity.
Listening to Gospel Music
I have found that listening to gospel music can totally change the atmosphere of the home. My family mostly implements this on Sundays, especially in the morning before church. It helps keep frustration levels down and just helps get us in a good headspace to get the most out of our church meetings.
We also sing children’s primary songs at bedtime to help Vivs start to wind down. Here’s a link to the songbook we sing from. We don’t use all of these (we rotate through like 5 or 6), but there are a lot of cute songs in it! We especially love some of the Christmas songs when December rolls around!
Service
Service is a great way to follow Christ’s example of loving others. I love that when I give of my time to others in service it takes the focus off of myself. It is also so much easier to love people when you serve them!
You could implement more service in your home in several different ways. Maybe you challenge each family member to serve another person in the family; this could be by their choice or drawing/assigning names. You could serve another person or family as a family activity (such as family home evening). You could encourage kids to find ways to serve other people they know from school or church or other social groups.
Serving others:
- … as a family might look like: taking dinner over or inviting someone to eat with you, doing yard work, taking care of pets while they’re out of town, picking up groceries for them, etc.
- … in the home might look like: folding their laundry and putting it away, cleaning their room, write them a letter about things you admire about them, make them a treat that they like, make their bed, etc.
- … in/from social groups might look like: inviting them to something with you, giving them a sincere compliment, showing interest in their hobbies/skills/likes, helping them with a project they’re working on, etc.
One of the great things about service is it doesn’t always have to be big grand things! The important part is that you are trying to love as the Savior would. Both giving and receiving service can make your home and your community a happier place!
Personal Prayer/Scripture Study
Building a Christ centered home really starts with the individual. I’ve found that when I neglect my personal prayer and study, the other things I’ve talked about don’t seem to mean much. Christ wants us to know him personally, so it is critical that we take the time by ourself to do so!
I know it can be hard to take time or be focused for scripture study as parent, especially on those days you’re really tired or worn out. I typically study before bed since it’s one of the few times it’s quite in the house, and sometimes my study is not up to par. It is worth it, though, I promise! I often find that if I at least take the time to start, my mind wakes up a bit and I can get something out of my scripture study.
If you’re feeling stuck because you’re not sure what to study, I recommend looking up study plans. You could decide if you want to study a volume of scripture or study a topic. Once you have that narrowed down, finding a study plan should be simple. I use the Gospel Library app to keep track of where I’m at in my study plan and for questions, but I typically prefer paper scriptures. There are probably lots of great apps out there for study plans though!
Prayer is a wonderful chance to take time to reflect on your day with God. I’m not always very good at staying focused during prayer because I’m tired, but when I do stay focused I feel more grounded to Christ. It ends the day on a good note and makes the next day so much easier.
Conclusion
I hope these ideas help you get started with building the Christ centered home you want! I would love hear what your family is doing to strengthen their relationship with Christ! Having a peaceful home can feeling daunting or sometimes impossible, but if you keep with it, I promise it will make a difference. God knows what your family needs, and He will bless your efforts to draw near to Him!