Family Night Fileld Trips, Part I

Alma 24:14
"And the great God has had mercy on us, and made these things known unto us that we might not perish; yea, and he has made these things known unto us... because he loveth our souls...; therefore, in his mercy he doth visit us by his angels, that the plan of salvation might be made known unto us."

Wes and I are so grateful for our knowledge of God's plan of salvation.  His plan of happiness.  His great and eternal plan of redemption.  We are grateful for the perspective it provides for us personally and we've been overwhelmingly grateful for it as parents. 

There have been times when I've grappled a little to know how to discuss the topic of Wes's cancer diagnosis with our children (our oldest daughter in particular).  What should we tell them?  What should we not tell them?  The last thing we want is to burden them with "what ifs," but neither do we want to neglect conversations that might be needful or helpful in any way.  So we've prayed and mulled over the subject  a bit.  The [very clear!] guidance we've consistently received is simply:  teach them the plan of salvation. 

Duh. =)

Understanding the plan of salvation is pretty much the ultimate preparation for life, isn't it - no matter our various challenges and trials?!

Yes. It is.

So we, like you, try to spend time teaching our children the plan.  Most of that teaching is informally and naturally connected to our day to day living.  But of course we've also tried to find ways to teach the topic deliberately and directly.  We thought it would be fun to share some of the things that have worked for us in hopes that you'll share some of the things that have worked for you!  (Deal?! =)

One idea we discussed and carried out this summer involved a series of family night field trips.  You'll see right where this is going, but I'm going to do a separate post for each different trip (to save me from uploading a gazillion more pictures and to save you from reading a gazillion more paragraphs!).

Our first Monday outing was to the hospital where our children were born. 

We reminisced about each of their special birth-days.  We found pictures of tiny babies on the walls and talked about where our spirits lived before birth, why Heavenly Father sent us to earth, and why it was important for us to have bodies.  We sang I Am a Child of God, and I Lived in Heaven (I love that song!), and it was all very simple and low key. 

But it was fun and memorable and I know we'll do it again because it was so nostalgic of those near-to-heaven newborn days.  (Next time we'll take pictures of our kids as newborns!  It would have been fun to look through those as we reminisced!)

Another field trip post next week!  In the meantime, thanks to Jeanine for sending a link to this celebration of the Family Proclamation!  Check it out!  And thanks to Katie for the heads up about approved art!!!