It's the little things that make big things


I've been thinking lots about a talk I heard last Saturday night stake conference
by Elder Gregory Sshwitzer….

Some key points I want to remember….


"We can keep a moth inside the house by shutting all the doors and closing the windows. 
Or we can just light a candle."  The speaker then went on to compare this to our homes. "Light
a candle in our homes so those that will wander will want to stay." 
 In other words, it is all the every day little things we do in our homes that make the biggest 
difference. The quotes on our fridge door (he said the fridge door is an altar for teenage boys,
especially, and we should take advantage of this fact)…put things on there we want our kids and
grandkids to see.
It's the sweet messages, or spiritual pictures or uplifting messages we put on our walls.... The
speaker suggested we think of strategic places….where these up lifting messages will have 
the most impact. 

Made me think of this sign in my brother John and Suzanne's home.

Our these 2 from my sister Robin and Dave's home.

The speaker talked about when he grew up….how one day his Dad brought a picture about
prayer and put it at the foot of his bed so he would see it every morning and every night. His Dad
just said there was "a blank place on his wall that needed a picture."  So he woke up with that
picture and every morning and night said his prayers without fail. So then he goes off to college
and gets an atheist roommate. He didn't know what to do that first night about praying. But he 
kept seeing that picture in his mind that he grew up with about prayer and got down on his
knees and prayed anyway.

He said he was so grateful his Dad taught him about prayer, not by fancy lessons with lots of 
references, but by a simple little act in making their home more holy. He thought back on
the many trials of his life and about the many many times he HAD to have an answer to prayer.

He also suggested we go through our homes and get rid of anything (DVDs, books, music, etc)
that would not be appropriate for our children and grandchildren, and get rid of it. 

He talked about the power of eating around the dinner table. How the Lord understood the power
of food…he finished his talk and he fed 5000. Instead of talking about theories to our kids, he 
suggested we talk in terms of "what if"….give them scenarios to think of solutions to. From 
there we should talk about stories. Sounds like fun dinner time to me. 

I wish I had a family to raise all over again so I could try all these ideas out. 

3 comments:

Susan Anderson said...

Sounds like a great talk, and I love the idea of just lighting that candle to draw everyone in to the light.

=)

Karen Mortensen said...

What a great talk. I love those signs. I always like going to Robin's house to see all her signs. That one about Christ, I gave her. Love the picture of Sarah.

Richard said...

You did a nice enough job the first time around...we get grandkids to try our new ideas on.

Look what happened last night

  Just a little pre-graduating gathering for our DIL Amy.... Not everyday a Mom of 7 and a Grandma of 7, graduates from college. It was not ...