"Preserving My Family"

“ …only those who believe deeply and actively in the family will be able to preserve their families in the midst of the gathering evil around us.” – President Spencer W. Kimball

As soon as I read those words my heart sank. “Why?? Why would my heart sink?!”, I thought to myself. I have a happy marriage, we are faithful and active in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, our children are all attending church with us, we read the scriptures…on and on and on. Then came the but…”But you can do better.” Tears still well up in my eyes as I type this, for I know those words were not my own, they were from a gentle and loving Heavenly Father who wants nothing more than for the entire Stabler family to be protected and preserved.

We have recently heard from our dear prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, that “…in coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.” While I have had enough life experience and time to figure out how to keep the holy ghost close and to receive personal revelation for myself and my family, my children have not. And because of what President Nelson recently taught, “If we are to have any hope of sifting through the myriad of voices and the philosophies of men that attack truth, we must learn to receive revelation.”, I know that I need to do better to teach my children how to find their way and sift through those myriad of voices! I have to teach them how to protect themselves.

But how do I do that? We read scriptures most mornings (we’re about 80% for the week), so I know we can improve there, we say our prayers, etc, etc, but it is the “Come Follow Me” program that is ringing in my ears that I need to improve on. We have really struggled to find a way to implement that inspired program into our daily lives. I could give 101 excuses, but as I read that quote shown above from President Kimball, I knew that improving our studies in the new “Come Follow Me” program is what will help to preserve my family amidst the evil that grows around us daily.

While most Sunday’s we gather to discuss the Come Follow Me lessons, they aren’t very in depth, and I am often flustered. While this is no excuse, my husband is in the Stake Presidency and his Sunday plate is very full. We often don’t see him until 7:00pm on Sunday’s, at which point we are all exhausted. I try to lead these discussions without him, but the kids, especially teenagers don’t listen to me like they do him. I would love some inspiration and feedback on how you are a implementing the Come Follow Me program in your lives. Do you discuss it daily? Do you prepare a Sunday lesson? What has worked best for your family?