Family Home Evening

*This is for my journaling purposes only. Feel free to read or bypass (although it is a sweet story)* But there are NEW pics under this post, so scroll down to see

Last night Matt was in charge of the FHE lesson. We started the night normally, sang our song, said our prayer, read our scripture and did our family business. Then Matt started out by telling us that he had been doing a lot of praying lately and that he had been commanded to pack us up and leave our home. He had our bags ready (although empty) and told us we had 10 minutes to pack up the things that were most important to us and only things that we were able to carry. Now, considering everything that has been happening with our family lately, Matt almost had me believing him that this was real. It only took a second to realize it was an object lesson, but Madeline was pretty convinced that we had to leave our home immediately. Lauren wasn't sure what was happening, but went with it anyway.

So, we all scurried around the house to find our most precious possessions and our sweet little Madeline did it in tears. She was so upset that we were leaving and couldn't take it all with us. She kept telling us she didn't want to leave her friends, and her school. She didn't want to be the "new girl" in school. She was upset to leave her snow globe she got for Christmas because it wouldn't fit in her bag, and she didn't want to leave her jewelry box behind. She was shoving things into my bag that she couldn't fit in hers. Lauren went up to the toy room to get anything and everything she could find to fit into her tiny little backpack. I was struggling to keep from busting a gut because it was so funny. :-) OH, and she was pretty devastated about having to leave Dorothy, the fish behind too.

When our 10 mintues were up, Matt had us gather our stuff in our arms and he led us outside. The girls wanted to get in the car, but Matt told them we had to walk. We didn't have shoes on and we didn't have jackets on, so Madeline hurried to get her jacket because it was really cold outside. He ended the object lesson when she came back inside to get her jacket.

When Matt told her that we didn't really need to leave our home and all of our belongings, she was utterly confused. She looked at him and said, "You were just kidding?" At that point, he led into the story about Lehi and his family and how the Lord commanded them to pack up their belongings and move out. It was an amazing lesson.

It was also pretty amusing to see what the girls most precious possessions are. I wish I had taken a picture and I thought about it at the moment, but I didn't want to turn the lesson into a blogging post (although I should have). She took her pink pig she likes to sleep with, a medal a friend gave to her, a bow (the kind you put on a package) to decorate her new room, a couple of dress up necklaces, her valentines she is making for the kids in her school class and some other belongings. Lauren put her bear bear (the one and only coveted) and some random toys.

It was interesting to have to really think about the things you would take if you only had one little bag. I even struggled with it. I figure as long as I have my family, nothing else matters. I hope that never really happens to our family, but you never know.

I really appreciated Matt for that lesson because it is something that the girls (Madeline at least) and I will always remember. And it was a good little laugh at the same time. When it was all over, and even today, Madeline tells me that she was scared to have to sleep in the cold and on the grass, but she was actually excited to have to move out because then she would be able to get the puppy she wants. (Right now, my excuse is that we rent and don't own our home, so we can't have a puppy. I guess that won't last forever!)

The best part for me was that Madeline was so willing to do what her dad has asked her to do. Even though there were tears and she was so sad, never once did she fight him on what he asked her to do. That to me, shows true courage!