{"id":1201,"date":"2011-07-13T14:50:33","date_gmt":"2011-07-13T14:50:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/projectconversion.com\/?p=1201"},"modified":"2011-07-22T02:50:20","modified_gmt":"2011-07-22T02:50:20","slug":"chillin-with-the-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/projectconversion\/2011\/07\/chillin-with-the-family.html","title":{"rendered":"Chillin’ with the Family"},"content":{"rendered":"

I didn’t see my dad much growing up. He was an Army Ranger with the 82nd Airborne Division. Rangers “Lead the Way,” and the 82nd goes “All the Way,” so with American forces perpetually engaged in some operation around the world, Dad led the way, all the way, all the time.<\/p>\n

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That meant many evenings\u00a0without Dad at the dinner table. He missed a lot of opportunities to watch my sister and me grow. Mom missed him too. But we were a proud Army family. I walked around the house in Dad’s spare combat boots, pretended to shine them, and\u00a0laced them up to my knees. I wanted nothing more than to be a paratrooper like Dad and so I routinely practiced my airborne techniques by jumping off the back of a truck bed with my pet chicken.<\/p>\n

Because Dad was gone so often, and much of the time we never knew where he was or how long he would be gone, we made sure every moment he was home was spectacular. I remember one time, when we were stationed in Italy,\u00a0that we had the rare opportunity of knowing when he’d come home. My mom prepared a skit for all of us to perform once he walked through the door. I can’t remember what we sang or all the movements, but I do remember two things:<\/p>\n

1) My dad’s smile.<\/span><\/p>\n

2) I felt uncomfortable and silly.<\/span><\/p>\n

I was five years old.<\/p>\n

I’m not sure why I felt this way, but ever since I can remember, family functions are odd for me. Maybe it’s because I’m more of a lone wolf. But none of that matters when you have a family. Now that I’m older and have kids and a wife of my own, I can see the importance of family time together and how that impacts our children.<\/span><\/p>\n

This sort of quality time is a rarity among families today due to our high impact, high-octane society. There is always an event to go to. Soccer game, board meeting, late night at the office…<\/span><\/p>\n

When was the last time you ate dinner at the table with your family? When’s the last time you played a board game or just\u00a0chilled with your kids?<\/span><\/p>\n

One very important component of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reminded me of the centrality our family should hold in our lives: Family Home Evenings<\/span><\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Family Home Evenings were instituted\u00a0in 1915 by President and then modern Prophet, Joseph F. Smith. He described them as a time set apart for “prayer…hymns…family topics…and specific instruction on the\u00a0principles of the gospel.” These evenings with family were set\u00a0aside for Mondays, however this day of the week isn’t a hard and fast rule. Any evening will do so long as it is consistent and with a defined purpose.<\/span><\/p>\n

The LDS website<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong> has fantastic ideas for how to conduct a Family Home Evening, such as:<\/span><\/p>\n