Here is a freebie for you!
We hope it can bless your family to stay motivated with Come Follow Me in your home!
How is Come Follow Me going in your home? Is it going as well as you’d like to?
President Uchtdorf said, “If you haven’t started the Come Follow Me program, do it…Any effort is good effort, but we need to start, and start now. An old proverb says, the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the second best time is now.”
My takeaway message of hope for you is SOMETHING IS BETTER THAN NOTHING! There is no one perfect way to do Come Follow Me. I feel strongly that doing five minutes of Come Follow Me as a family once a week COUNTS! Sharing a sentence testimony to your children counts! Opening up your scriptures counts! Singing a primary song together counts! Reading one verse together counts! START WHERE YOU ARE. DON’T OVERTHINK IT!
Something that has helped me to revive Come Follow Me study in my home is to ponder on why we have the Come Follow Me program. As I studied to find answers to that question, it has made all the difference for me to want to simply and consistently make sure scripture study is happening.
President Nelson said, “Our youth are among the best the Lord has ever sent into this world. We must do our part to help them realize their potential.”
Mama, can you feel that truth in that? Can you feel that your children have strong special spirits? Do you feel anxious like I do to strengthen and prepare them?
Joy D. Jones said, “We cannot wait for conversion to simply happen. Becoming like our Savior does not happen accidentally.”
Woah. That hit me. The day feels full already with getting everyone breakfast and ready for school, heading to the gym, playing with my preschooler, doing household chores, greeting the kids after school with snack and after school activities, doing the dinner and bedtime routine and collapsing next to hubby at the end of another day. But my precious children are not going to automatically grow their testimonies without a bit of intentionality scheduled into our day.
Our prophet President Nelson gave us a declaration and warning: “The adversary is increasing his attacks on faith and upon us and our families at an exponential rate. To survive spiritually, we need counter strategies and proactive plans.”
Do you feel it? I absolutely feel the increase of Satan’s attacks. He is grasping at my faith trying to unwind my testimony. 100%.
So what is our counter strategy and proactive plan? The answer is Come Follow Me!
We know Heavenly Father’s plan is a plan of happiness for us. He wants our families to feel Jesus’ love for us. He wants our homes to be a place where the spirit of the Lord dwells. He wants to protect our families and increase the feelings of love in our families.
In President Eyring’s talk “A home where the spirit of the Lord dwells,” he says wise parents will see the underlying cause of contention and undesired behaviors is the influence of Satan trying to lead good people down a path to sin and lose the Holy Ghost. President Eyring says as parents we need to rise to the spiritual place we want for our children. Building faith in Jesus Christ is the beginning of reversing any spiritual decline in our families and homes. He testifies Come Follow Me is an inspired curriculum and as we use it we build our faith.
So if faith in Jesus Christ is the cure for unwanted behaviors in our homes, then studying scriptures as a family to become more like our Savior through the Come Follow Me program is absolutely part of God’s plan for our families.
President Nelson said, “the new home centered church supported integrated curriculum has the potential to unleash the power of families as each family follows through conscientiously and carefully to transform their home into a sanctuary of faith.”
Have you made any changes to your home to welcome a successful environment for studying scriptures as a family?
Gary E Stevenson said, “Only the home can compare with the temple in sacredness.”
Lately Doctrine & Covenants 88:119 has had personal meaning. “Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.”
As I pondered how to create a successful rhythm for Come Follow Me as a central part of my family’s routine, I decided to make a Come Follow Me family bulletin board next to our big family room picture of Christ.
We have a basket nearby with scriptures, The Children’s Songbook, Doctrine & Covenants Stories, and the Come Follow Me manual. I recruited the help of my talented husband to make us “Come Follow Me” letters to label our board along with smaller labels that may be helpful to keep our study focussed and simple each week. Currently we are using a verse of the week, picture of the week and song of the week along with something to pray for as a family. We can switch up our smaller labels later to keep it exciting.
Click below for your free copy of a Come Follow Me bulletin board for your family.
President Nelson promised, “As you diligently work to remodel your home into a center of gospel learning, the influence of the adversary in your life and in your home will decrease.”
Yes, please!
Tips that have worked for my family of 8:
Role play scripture stories, include a treat, let kids take charge of a lesson, keep lessons active, watch a video, color a page from The Friend as we have a lesson or read scriptures, ask good questions, keep it simple and fun, sing a primary song, and liken the scriptures to our life.
Sunday afternoons are best for my crew and also the breakfast or dinner table.
Anything inviting the Holy Ghost into your home and helping your family to become more like Jesus is a win! And some lessons will definitely flop but we can try again another day! I feel confident that the Come Follow Me program is inspired by our prophet as Heavenly Father’s plan for teaching and strengthening one another spiritually as families.
Please share with me Come Follow Me wins at your house and enjoy the freebie!
Different things will work at different phases of your family’s life or even different phases in the same year. You have permission to keep shaking things up to make Come Follow Me fresh and new as often as you need to. I have had to adjust many times. Too often we get caught up thinking that just because something used to work that it will continue to work. That might not be the case. Don’t get stuck in a rut when things aren’t working.
Bonus: Below are some free resources and some paid resources that may be helpful for your family that I have found. Use with caution: remember if it makes you feel overwhelmed and stressed, it’s not helping your family to stay consistent with doing Come Follow Me and another route may be better for you and your crew! No family needs to pay for successful Come Follow Me lessons in your home. However, if it helps and you enjoy it, win! I am not an affiliate with any of these sites. I am just sharing mama to mama.
latterdaykids.com
theredcrystal.org
comefollowkid.com
redheadedhostess.com
loveprayteach.com
comefollowmefhe.com
comefollowmetoddlers on Instagram
alivelyhope.com
Big hugs Mama! We are in this together!
