Scripture Power Reading Chart

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Dear Friends-
We live in a world that idolizes fame and fortune…  Football and basketball stars of our favorite teams, movies, musicians and movie stars, even Super Heroes like Superman, Batman, The Hulk and Thor. We all want and need someone to look up to. Oftentimes, the people that live with us and love us throughout our lives are our Hero’s, though many times we overlook them.
I love the Primary 2016 Theme I Know The Scriptures Are True and know there is a power and strength that comes from reading the scriptures each day. Scripture Power.
Who are our hero’s? Our children’s hero’s? The scriptures are filled with wonderful examples of true hero’s for us to look up to and follow. This is a great time to talk around the kitchen table and talk about our favorites and why … Nephi, Ammon, Captain Moroni, Abinadi, 2000 Stripling Warriors, Alma the Younger, The Brother of Jared, Sons of Mosiah and most especially Jesus Christ. We can pick our favorite (s) and make a list of their character traits we want to strive for in our lives.
I have included a link to our FREE Scripture Power Book of Mormon Reading Chart for you to download for each member of your family or church group to keep track of your progress. Happy Reading!
Take care,
Brenda
Download it here
Brenda 2016 Primary Book of Mormon Reading Chart

How will you stand tall in 2016?

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Standing Tall in 2016….what does that mean?  The January 2016 Friend Magazine published a song called, “Standing Tall” by Jan Pinborough and Janice Kapp Perry.  I love the lyrics!  It gives examples of people in the scriptures that stood tall and that we, too, can do the same when we are confronted with challenges.

David faced the giant
With only five small stones.
He did not fear.
He knew the Lord was near,
So David stood tall!
Esther prayed for courage
Before she faced the king.
Her faith burned bright.
The Lord was on her side,
So Esther stood tall!
When I face a challenge
That’s either great or small,
I’ll show my faith
And courage every day,
So I can stand tall!
 
CHORUS:

I’ll stand tall! The Savior is beside me.
He’s always there to guide me.
I do not walk alone, I’ll stand tall!
His Spirit will direct me,
His loving arms protect me.
He’s on my side, so I can stand tall!

The Friend Magazine is encouraging children everywhere to send their traced footprint along with their pledge for standing tall in 2016:

(If you’d like to learn the song, here is a music video on LDS.org to help you learn the words.)

Suzanne Wager already started teaching her Primary this song.  She writes, “I created printables for the three verses (except for the chorus). Verse one, I printed on cardstock the color of stones and cut each page out to look like a rock. Verse 2, I drew a crown around each phrase on each page and printed it on yellow paper. The last verse I printed out on green paper:

CLICK HERE to open Verse 1 (pdf)
CLICK HERE to open Verse 2 (pdf)
CLICK HERE to open Verse 3 (pdf)

As they learn each verse, I will put it up on the board and practice it. I will turn around different phrases (so the children can’t see them) and see if they can remember the words. For the chorus, the children stand up taller and taller whenever it says “I”ll stand tall” and I plan to use a few actions through out the chorus. Once they have practiced the first verse enough, I will hand out a pair of rocks to each student. They can hit the rocks together to the beat (goes along with the David and Goliath story). I also put an image of Ester, David and Goliath, and a modern day child next to each verse as they were learning it. When we review the song, I will just hold up the images of the people to remind them what the verse is about.”

Strengthen Your Core

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Be Found Doing the Work of the Lord!

Be Found Doing the Work of the Lord!

Last week a friend and I worked out together at the gym. While we sat rowing away we shared our 2016 goals. I confided that I didn’t make my typical long list this year. I decided to just focus on the core. She asked what I meant….

I shared that this year instead of writing out a list of new goals, I just adopted a simple mantra… I want to be found doing the work of the Lord. Whether it’s lifting other’s spirits, forgiving more quickly, doing more serious scripture study or being more consistent about my temple attendance. The central or most important part of my daily living will be to focus on the core teachings of the prophets.

To help me remember to consistently attend the temple, I created a temple attendance chart so I could have a visual reminder to help me get there every month.  To help me remember to focus daily on the core, I’ve added planks and sit-ups whenever I exercise — my physical reminder to strengthening my core in 2016!

I love sharing printables and hope that this one will help you strengthen your core as you do the work of the Lord.

BE-FOUND-DOING-THE-WORK-OF-THE-LORD-PRINTABLE-cc

Click to Download Here {pdf}

Click to Download Here {image}

xo – April

A simple free printable for tracking family goals

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January is a giant do-over month. Like most families, we figure out where we dropped the ball last year and set simple goals improving in the moths ahead. All of the sudden things like finishing a personal progress goal, logging miles on the treadmill or just finding the toy room floor seem like they might be do-able.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned over years and years of family goal-setting, it’s that if a goal is not planned (and shared) will not succeed. It’s not enough to just think about what we want to accomplish. We need to break it into smaller steps and put the plan on paper. And in our case, we need that paper to be in a spot where the whole family will see it everyday…in other words, the fridge. 🙂

My fridge is never this shiny. I shined it up just for you, blog readers. You're welcome. ;)

A simple printable tracker for family goals

Generally we fill this out during FHE. Everyone shouts out a few big yearly goals and then we help them break them down into 6 or 8 week chunks. We chat about the common reasons we fail and then brainstorm on ways we can fight those temptations before they pop up.

Here's a sample of some simple goals your family might set.

Here’s a sample of some simple goals your family might set.

Every week or two we bring the printable into FHE and check our progress. If you completed your goal before your deadline you get to cross it off and post it on the fridge for all the other family slackers to admire. This mini-victory also generally involves a trip to the gas station for a celebratory slushy. 🙂

Once most of the goals are crossed off, we print a new sheet and start all over. Some goals carry from one sheet to the next but most progress over the course of the year.

It’s not a fancy system, but that’s the beauty of it. It’s totally do-able. Whether you have little kids, teenagers or older kids starting their own families, this printable will help you move forward as a family. It naturally encourages you to support each other and celebrate success together. Best of all, it’s totally free.

You can find the free printable below or click here to download the high-res version or click here for the pdf. The trendy, water-color styled prints can be printed at home or sent to your favorite photo lab (like Costco or Sam’s Club). Enjoy!

MeckMom Goals are Dreams Watercolor Navy Green-01

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Maria Eckersley

This guest post was submitted by Maria Eckersley. Maria is a stay-at-home mom of six by day and a sleep-deprived graphic designer by night. You can find more of her ideas and printables on her new site MeckMom.com.