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This time of year you see lots of moms (myself included) googling the latest General Conference Coloring Sheets, gathering the candy cups to put out, laminating the BINGO cards, scouring Pinterest for better and more creative ways to engage the children, etc. And while those are all worthwhile things and fantastic for our children (you can even find some AMAZING ideas to help with all of that at the end of this post) I’d like to suggest we spend a good portion of our time between now and Conference focusing on something else.
For the next seven days I’d like to challenge all the moms out there to step away from the laminating machines, cross the various forms of candy and bribes off your shopping list (for now anyway), look away from all the Conference Activity Boards on Pinterest, and instead focus on preparing YOURSELF and your heart for Conference and the messages that are being prepared.
Notice, I just said for the next seven days. After that, you still have 5-6 days to worry about prepping your family. That’s PLENTY of time! (I know for some, those file folder activities are the only way you are going to hear a single word uttered during any of the sessions!) 🙂 And I’m fairly confident in promising that if you will prepare yourself first and get yourself in the right mindset for Conference, preparing your family and knowing that your family truly needs to be prepared for it will be a lot easier to recognize. In fact, you may find you don’t need as many activities…or maybe you need different ones…or maybe there is a way to get the ones you are already planning put together faster and easier.
That’s the great thing about taking the time to prepare ourselves to receive inspiration, that inspiration will affect all areas of our lives and allow us to prepare and act from a place of intention and purpose instead of a place of frustration and comparison. (Please tell me I’m not the only mom who sees all the creative things other moms are doing to prep their families and so I start feeling really inadequate and feeling like I need to go bigger and do more? Eventually just thinking to myself, “Well, we’ll try again in another six months!” and totally forgetting to prepare myself and my family to receive the inspiration and answers that are available and promised…which is ultimately the real point behind Conference).
Now, if you are not sure what to do to prepare yourself (it seems there aren’t as many Pinterest boards for that now are there?!) 😉 Here are some fantastic ideas from the lds.org website:
- Read about why we need prophets today.
- Read President Uchtdorf’s three basic steps of preparation.
- Review the highlights from last conference.
- Read how to prepare your children. (This was a VERY interesting read & lots of great ideas!)
- Review the blessings of General Conference.
- Learn how General Conference addresses individual circumstances.
- PONDER and RECORD what concerns and questions you need inspiration for. (If you do nothing else, please make the time to do this! And make it a matter of prayer as well!)
And to that list I’d like to add the following:
- Shop for and prep two easy breakfasts and two dinners. (Think your kids’ favorite cereal and a couple super easy Crock Pot meals. That way you can enjoy the weekend as well).
- Find a notebook and pen to keep easily accessible so you can write down your concerns and questions between now and Conference. (I always like to go into conference with three main goals, questions or concerns written down.) And, so you can record your thoughts and answers that you receive during conference. Then make sure to use them as those promptings and thoughts start coming in!!! 🙂
- Schedule a 30-60 min. block sometime when you and your husband can discuss your concerns about your family and your goals for your family. (Do it after the kids are in bed, get a babysitter for a short amount of time, etc.) By doing this, you will be able to pray about how to go about those goals or concerns and possibly receive insights during Conference as to how to do just that!
- Create a plan for the whole family that gets the house clean (or at least the areas you will all be in…total realist here!) by next Friday night. This may require saying no to some things this week or next, but it is much easier to stay focused during the sessions if you aren’t exhausted from cleaning in between sessions or looking at the dishes piled high in the sink. And make sure to get the kids and husband involved in the cleaning too if at all possible! 🙂
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This post is part of a General Conference Activities & Ideas round up. If you are looking for more great ideas and reads, you can check out the following links…
We hope that our activities and ideas will help to enrich your family’s General Conference experience! For more ideas and recipes, check out April’s General Conference round up for 13 additional posts!
I think sometimes I focus so much on making sure my children have a good conference experience that I turn into a Martha when I should be a Mary.
Thank you for this important reminder on preparation. And not so much on physical preparation alone, but more on emotional and mental preparation. It's wonderful to have fun together, and yet the time we spend considering where we are in life and what we need will benefit our families in so many wonderful ways! <3 Love this post.
I may be the opposite and spend all of my time on me and not enough on my kids! I need to do a better job engaging them while we listen, talking about what is going on, having a dialogue.
This is a great reminder, though! Can’t wait for conference!
Glad to meet you! Now following via FB!
Carolyn
http://www.ccmcafeeperspective.com/