January Giveaway . . .

At the beginning of each year we try to choose a phrase or motto that we will focus on as a family.This is our new family motto for the year, posted in bold letters on the refrigerator where we will see it every day. We've challenged our children {and ourselves, of course!} to really think this year about WHAT MATTERS MOST. The inspiration for this motto comes from a talk given by Russell M. Ballard in 2005. A specific passage of this talk struck me as I was contemplating what I hoped to accomplish with and for my family this year {I've highlighted especially meaninful parts in green}:

"Now, one may ask, How do we protect and preserve and strengthen our homes and families in a world pulling so hard in opposite directions? Let me make three simple suggestions:

1. Be consistent in holding daily family prayer and weekly family home evenings. Both of these invite the Lord’s Spirit, which provides the help and power we need as parents and family leaders. The Church curriculum and magazines have many good ideas for family home evening. Also consider holding a family testimony meeting where parents and children can express their beliefs and feelings to each other in a private and personal setting.

2. Teach the gospel and basic values in your home. Establish a love for reading the scriptures together. Too many of our parents are abdicating this responsibility to the Church. While seminary, auxiliaries, and priesthood quorums are important as a supplement to parental gospel instruction, the main responsibility rests in the home. You might want to choose one gospel subject or a family value and then watch for opportunities to teach it. Be wise and do not involve children or yourselves in so many activities out of the home that you are so busy that the Spirit of the Lord cannot be recognized or felt in giving you the promised guidance for yourself and your family.

3. Create meaningful family bonds that give your children an identity stronger than what they can find with their peer group or at school or anyplace else. This can be done through family traditions for birthdays, for holidays, for dinnertime, and for Sundays. It can also be done through family policies and rules with natural and well-understood consequences. Have a simple family economy where children have specific chores or household duties and receive praise or other rewards commensurate to how well they do. Teach them the importance of avoiding debt and of earning, saving, and wisely spending money. Help them learn responsibility for their own temporal and spiritual self-reliance.

My turning to this talk was a result of recognizing a flaw in my own person - the ability I have to cast aside the truly important for meaningless and trivial things that fritter away my time.  I'm here today accounting for it and tell you that it is going to stop. I want to be a more attentive and involved mother and wife.  I want to spend more time building relationships - and especially those within the walls of my home - because they are what matters most and will last the longest.

If I asked myself what matters most, would I speak to my children in an angry way?  Would I tend to a child in need of some attention instead of checking facebook?  Would I put my book away in order to read a book a child wants to hear?  Would I say the hurtful words I sometimes say to my Hubby?  Would I put my interests and desires aside, even just for a moment, to help someone in need?

These are the things I'm wrestling with.  These are the things I want to change.  And we've committed to doing it as a family this year.

I'd love to hear what matters most to you, my blog readers.  And, if you're willing to leave a comment, you'll be entered to win my January giveaway, which is this beautifully distressed sign that says "Peace" and another like it but in mineral green that says "Hope".  I think these two words embody something we're all looking for in the new year.

So tell me, What Matters Most to you? {Giveaway closes Thursday at 5 pm EST.)