Homemaking

Manual 1- Lesson 7 Homemaking

This goes along with the "Homemaking is More than Housekeeping" Section

I bought some plastic tiaras at the party store. I also have some princess pencils I'm going to decorate with a star and some ribbon to make it into a magic wand. When they come in I'll have them put on the tiaras, hand them their wands, and ask them if they were going to create the perfect home for a queen, what would it be like?

What is the Lord's house, or the temple like? (very clean, beautiful, ornate, comfortable, decorated with flower arrangements and pictures of the Savior's life, everyone is kind and polite, a place where His Spirit can dwell.)

What do you want your home to be like?

Can it be like the temple? How so? (D&C 88:119-120)



I also remember hearing a talk given by Marjorie Hinkley, and I apologize I have not been able to find a reference for it, but she shared an experience she had while visiting a church member in Africa. She shared how she went into this modest hut and noticed that there on a shelf was a single flower in a little vase. She then went on to share that women have been given the gift and need to create beauty around them. I am a strong believer that each one of us has been given the gift to create in some way or another. Isn't that what God does? He creates things. I believe as our divine nature we choose to create in many various forms: art- in all of its forms, music, literature (i.e. blogging), scrap booking, jewelry making, decorating, graphic design, culinary arts, engineering, any kind of designing, gardening, fashion, the list goes on and on. Creating the home you want to live in can be part of that, whether it comes naturally to you or is a skill that you learn.

I just found this great talk that goes along with this lesson.

A few more thoughts on Joy

As I've contemplated the lesson this week, I had one thing come strongly to my mind.

Being happy is a skill. I really want to help them see the steps to making the choice to be happy.

1. Constantly nourishing their relationship with Christ & living his gospel.
   
2. Being grateful for their blessings- being positive
3. Forgetting themselves in service

I am also going to use the idea of decorating the room for a party and showing them everyday is a party in this game we call life if we have a good attitude. I will be hanging up the following quotes from President Monson's "Finding Joy in The Journey" talk from the Oct. 2008 General Conference around the room.

I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and non-existent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey—now.

“You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you’ve collected a lot of empty yesterdays.”

Meredith Willson and Franklin Lacey, The Music Man (1957)

There is no tomorrow to remember if we don’t do something today.

“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God.”

Thessalonians 5:18

Of course, there is no going back, but only forward. Rather than dwelling on the past, we should make the most of today, of the here and now, doing all we can to provide pleasant memories for the future.

We will never regret the kind words spoken or the affection shown. Rather, our regrets will come if such things are omitted from our relationships with those who mean the most to us.

Send that note to the friend you’ve been neglecting; give your child a hug; give your parents a hug; say “I love you” more; always express your thanks. Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved.

Let us relish life as we live it, find joy in the journey, and share our love with friends and family. One day each of us will run out of tomorrows.

Our realization of what is most important in life goes hand in hand with gratitude for our blessings.

“Both abundance and lack [of abundance] exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend . . . when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present—love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us [happiness]—the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth.”

Sarah Ban Breathnach, in John Cook, comp., The Book of Positive Quotations, 2nd ed. (2007), 342

“Whatever hour God has blessed you with, take it with grateful hand, nor postpone your joys from year to year, so that in whatever place you have been, you may say that you have lived happily.”- Horace

Finding Joy Now

Manual 1-

Lesson 6

"Finding Joy Now"

President Monson's Last Conference Talk "Finding Joy in the Journey" is PERFECT for this lesson!

I made a hand out that has the two columns in the "Happiness is..." section for the girls to write which item it goes under. Then below it I placed room for the girls to write the fun, satisfaction, happiness, and joy definitions. I'm trying to figure out a good way to get documents shared, but let me know if you want me to email you a copy.


When I read the title of the "Happiness is..." section, this song came to my mind. I think for this section of my lesson I'll read a few of these items from the musical "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown" and then we'll talk about the things all around us that can make us happy. Then I'll have them make an individual list of the things that make them happy on a cute grocery list stationary that they can hang up this week.

CHARLIE BROWN:
(Spoken)
I'm so happy. That little red-headed gril dropped her pencil.
It has teeth marks all over it. She nibbles her pencil.
She's human! It hasn't been such a bad day after all.

(Sung)
HAPPINESS IS FINDING A PENCIL.

SNOOPY:
PIZZA WITH SAUSAGE

LINUS:
TELLING THE TIME.

SCHROEDER:
HAPPINESS IS LEARNING TO WHISTLE.

LINUS:
TYING YOUR SHOE FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME.

SALLY:
HAPPINESS IS PLAYING THE DRUM IN YOUR OWN SCHOOL BAND.

CHARLIE BROWN:
AND HAPPINESS IS WALKING HAND IN HAND.
HAPPINESS IS TWO KINDS OF ICE CREAM.

LUCY:
KNOWING A SECRET.

SCHROEDER:
CLIMBING A TREE.

CHARLIE BROWN:
HAPPINESS IS FIVE DIFFERENT CRAYONS.

SCHROEDER:
CATCHING A FIREFLY.
SETTING HIM FREE.

CHARLIE BROWN:
HAPPINESS IS BEING ALONE EVERY NOW AND THEN.

ALL:
AND HAPPINESS IS COMING HOME AGAIN.

CHARLIE BROWN:
HAPPINESS IS MORNING AND EVENING,
DAY TIME AND NIGHT TIME TOO.
FOR HAPPINESS IS ANYONE AND ANYTHING AT ALL
THAT'S LOVED BY YOU.

LINUS:
HAPPINESS IS HAVING A SISTER.

LUCY:
SHARING A SANDWICH.

LUCY AND LINUS:
GETTING ALONG.

ALL:
HAPPINESS IS SINGING TOGETHER WHEN DAY IS THROUGH,
AND HAPPINESS IS THOSE WHO SING WITH YOU.
HAPPINESS IS MORNING AND EVENING,
DAYTIME AND NIGHTTIME TOO.

CHARLIE BROWN:
FOR HAPPINESS IS ANYONE AND ANYTHING AT ALL
THAT'S LOVED BY YOU.

(The cast filters out, waving "good night" to Charlie Brown, but Lucy stays,
and and stands in silence for a moment before finally saying:)

LUCY:
You're a good man, Charlie Brown.


After the Chalkboard Discussion, I was going to talk about having a "Gratitude Attitude" and then discuss the advantages of having a gratitude journal. If I can find some cute cheap ones this week I'll make them little journals too.


I also really liked this handout I found on sugar doodle. Okay, there are tons of great ideas on there. I may also incorporate the party idea and the JOY= J-Jesus, O-others, Y-yourself. If you serve Jesus and others first you will find joy in yourself.

Lesson on Christ

Niki asked about a lesson on the Savior for Easter and I had an amazing experience last year teaching a lesson on the Atonement that I really felt guided through. So here are some of the ideas that came to me to share for my lesson.

First of all I would highly recommend the book, Believing Christ, by Stephen E. Robinson. He does an amazing job of making the Atonement attainable for each of us and in very understandable terms. I used his first few chapters about the dilemma we all face of achieving the command to be perfect and no unclean thing can enter the kingdom of heaven vs. every one of us is a sinner. He tells a beautiful story about his little boy getting into trouble and being sent to his room and then as a father and getting busy through the day he totally forgets to go get his little boy out of his room. His little boy hours later ventures out and asks "Can't we ever be friends again?" It just breaks your heart! But he shares the analogy that that is where each of us stands. We are each the sinner asking if we can ever make it back into our father's presence again. The parable of the bicycle is also in this book and what a great way for the girls to understand how the Savior makes up the difference where each of us falls short.

Another thing I used in the lesson was an object lesson I think I found on Mormonshare.com. I took a $20.00 bill and held it up and asked who wanted it. All the girls raised their hands. Then I wadded it up and then flattened it back out and asked who wanted it. They still raised their hands. Then I dropped it on the ground and stomped on it a few times, held it up and asked the same question. Of course they still wanted it. I shared how no matter what we experience in life, what we go through or what poor decisions we make, we still have the same value and worth to our Heavenly Father and he still wants us back.

One thing I felt very strongly about emphisizing is that Repentence isn't a bad word for vile sinners or things that need to be confessed to a bishop. Repentence is a beautiful process that we should experience everyday as we try to become better poeple and come closer to Christ. As we feel the cleansing power of the Spirit we know we are repenting and becoming better. We talked about ways we know we are feeling the Holy Spirit. My list is in the plan below.

I finished my lesson by giving the girls a copy of the song "I'm The One Who Writes My Own Story" from the musical by Lex De Azevedo "My Turn on Earth." I played the song for them and gave them each a pencil with an extra earaser topper to erase those mistakes through the Savior.

Last year's Ensign dedicated to Christ, I think it was the March issue, was also a great resource.

I didn't want to figure out the code on my lesson plan, so if you want a copy just let me know and I"ll email you one.

A few sweet sisters I know have been called to serve in their ward's young women lately. Since I prepare a lesson almost every week, I thought I'd start posting some of what I do. I'm all about sharing the labor and the love.

YW Lesson Manual 1- Lesson 6 Finding Joy in Our Divine Potential
This week I invited a sister to share her thoughts on Finding Joy in Our Divine Potential, as suggested by the manual. Here are some ideas I gave her to talk about.

• Why it is a joy to be a woman.
• Joys you have experienced from being a mother.
• Joys you have experienced from having a celestial marriage.
  
• Challenges you have faced as a women and how you deal with them.
• Challenges you faced as a YW and how you overcame them.
• Choices you have made that have kept you close to Heavenly Father.
• Blessings that result from being close to Heavenly Father.
• Joy's you have experienced in each stage of your life and what you still look forward to.

After she speaks for about 20 min. I'm opening the lesson up to discussion with the girls on the following questions:

• What joy do you find in being a YW?
• What things can you look forward to as you experience different stages of life?
• What challenges do women face today?
• What special gifts has Heavenly Father given us as women to overcome these challenges?
• How can you magnify your beauty and calling as a daughter of God?

I'm taking the letter from the Young Women General Presidency that is in the lesson and printing it out on cute stationary and addressing one to each of the girls in the class.

A few good talks:
Daughters of God
The Sanctity of Womanhood
Women of Righteousness
Womanhood: The Highest Place of Honor