Family Unity

My husband gave the greatest family night lesson a couple of weeks ago.  It was centered on family unity and working together to acheive a goal.  He laid out a regular-sized piece of printer paper on the floor and told the kids to figure out a way so that they were all standing on the piece of paper.  Then, he and I just sat and watched.  Wow!  You can learn a lot about your children when putting them in such a situation.  You find out who are the most talkative, the controllers, the silent bystanders, the ones who feel "left out" and those who just listen and try whatever others suggest.  It was so great!  The coolest part was that one child gave an idea which was immediately ignored, but then that idea ended up being the one that worked in the end (it only took the other kids a very long time to realize it). 

J. then shared Mosiah 18:21

 "And he commanded them that there should be no contention one with another, but that they should look forward with one eye, having one faith and one baptism, having their hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another." 

We then talked about what it means to have our "hearts knit together" and how we needed to be a team.  He, of course, used the latest BYU basketball phenomenon as an example.  Jimmer does not go out there and win the game.  The TEAM is who wins the game.  J. also recognized that Jimmer does not boast about himself in an interview, but talks about how "we" had a great game, not "I."  We applied this to a family and how we need to work together as a team, listen to one another better and have our "hearts knit together in unity and love." 

I just thought it was a great lesson and good enough to share.  :-)