A lot has happened of good things have happened to our family the past 6 months- my husband graduated from college, got a new job, we moved into a new house,… things were looking great! I knew I wanted to work on expressing gratitude as a New Year’s resolution. We had SO much to be thankful for! And I knew that I didn’t want this to just be a personal goal- but something we could all work on as a family. I envisioned a whole year of meaningful journal writing and all our FHE lessons centered on gratitude.
And then we were hit with an unexpected trial (I won’t go into detail about it now, let’s just say it’s a road bump on our blissful journey). I wanted to wallow in self pity, but knew in my heart that now more than ever my family needed to focus on gratitude.
Lift up your hearts in praise to God;
Let your rejoicings never cease.
Though tribulations rage abroad,
Christ says, “In me ye shall have peace.”
Hymn #122: Though Deepening Trials
I am hoping that the focus of our year of gratitude will help us to more easily recognize all of our blessings, express gratitude to others & in our prayers for specific blessings, and strengthen our family. We have already built a foundation of teaching polite behaviors with our daughter, but I want to immerse her in the deep happiness that comes when we are truly grateful. Including recognizing and expressing gratitude when things aren’t going our way.
Here is our plan:
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| We have 12 monthly gratitude themes that are centered around gospel teachings: Heavenly Father, Holy Ghost, Jesus Christ, Prophets, Scriptures, Bodies, Country/Home, Covenants, Plan of Salvation, Family, Extended Family/ancestors, and Service. Each monthly theme also has sub topics in gray shaded boxes. (I went through old family home evening books and highlighted topics of gospel study I knew our family needed, then just inserted them throughout the year.) |
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| You can’t have a family home evening planner without a binder! |
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| Inside the binder are our individual gratitude journals where we will be writing down things that we are grateful for each week and lesson plan ideas for each theme. |
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| Our 12 monthly themes divider pages for the gratitude binder. |
Here is a free printable for you- print the pic below and create your own gratitude journal!
Well it is almost 1:30 AM and I am grateful for my nice warm bed that I am about to jump into! If there are any files that you would like a copy of, please feel free to email me and I will send them your way.
Happy Teaching!
