M E R I D I A N     M A G A Z I N E

Freeing Our Children from Bondage
By C.S. Bezas

“I urge you ... to look to the condition of your finances.”

Thus reads an insert to the September 2007 edition of the Ensign. What an important concept for our children to learn — and to learn at an early age.

The quote comes from President Hinckley and continues:

I urge you to be modest in your expenditures; discipline yourselves in your purchases to avoid debt to the extent possible. Pay off debt as quickly as you can, and free yourselves from bondage.

If you have paid your debts, if you have a reserve, even though it be small, then should storms howl about your head, you will have shelter for your wives and children and peace in your hearts. That's all I have to say about it, but I wish to say it with all the emphasis of which I am capable (Ensign, Nov 1998, 54, emphasis added).

One need not look far to tell that the world is in transition, much as a pregnant woman struggles to birth a child. Only that which the world is about to deliver is anything but joyous. Prophets have long foretold the troubles of our day.

President John Taylor taught the following in General Conference, in 1879:

Were we surprised when the last terrible war [Civil War] took place here in the United States? No ...You will see worse things than that, for God will lay his hand upon this nation, and they will feel it more terribly than ever they have done before. There will be more bloodshed, more ruin, more devastation than ever they have seen before. Write it down! You will see it come to pass; it is only just starting in ... there is yet to come a sound of war, trouble and distress, in which brother will be arrayed against brother, father against son, son against father, a scene of desolation and destruction that will permeate our land until it will be a vexation to hear the report thereof (Journal of Discourses, 20:318).

Plain speaking is never pleasant. Some might wish to hide from it, but not us — not those who desire to prepare our children against that which is to come. We may not know when those times will beset us, but when we hearken to warnings, our children learn how to care for themselves (and for others). Our children will be protected because we cared enough to listen to the Lord's living oracles and to teach our family provident preparation skills.

One of those most important skills is that of preparing for a rainy day, a day of potential scarcity. Our dear beloved President Faust spoke of those rainy days in the General Conference of April 1986:

Frugality requires that we live within our income and save a little for a rainy day, which always seems to come. It means avoiding debt and carefully limiting credit purchasing. It is important to learn to distinguish between wants and needs. It takes self-discipline to avoid the “buy now, pay later”philosophy and to adopt the “save now and buy later” practice (see insert, Ensign, Sep 2007).

It's How We Approach It

Speaking of frugality either brings moans or joy; it never seems to bring both. It's truly all in how we approach it.

Our children will long remember how we teach this lesson. And it is much more than the "Is the cup half full or half empty" approach. Once a person grasps the full range and benefit of frugal living, there is no going back.

For this week's Family Home Evening, why not play the following games to introduce the concept and get the family thinking along a preparedness lifestyle.

Time for FHE Fun!

Time for a little FHE Fun! To help matters out, here is a simple outline you could follow to teach the importance of a prepared, frugal lifestyle — a lifestyle that brings supernal peace and joy.

Opening Song

Why not learn Hymn #279 for this week's Family Home Evening? Here is a link http://www.lds.org/churchmusic/

Opening Prayer

Ask for a volunteer to pray. Make sure that as each week goes by the blessings for praying get distributed evenly amongst family members. But you may want to avoid forcing anyone to pray — as force is rarely if ever used by the Lord.

Personal Devotional

This is a terrific time to open up a few minutes for a family member to share a spiritually significant thought that came to him during the week, whether from scripture study, personal prayer or even a missionary moment.

FHE Theme Scripture

Hymn #279 lists D&C 18:34-36 as a cross reference. Here is the scripture to read out loud with your family.

These words are not of men nor of man, but of me; wherefore, you shall testify they are of me and not of man;

For it is my voice which speaketh them unto you; for they are given by my Spirit unto you, and by my power you can read them one to another; and save it were by my power you could not have them;

Wherefore, you can testify that you have heard my voice, and know my words.

Open up the discussion to explore thoughts on what this scripture means. Remember that there are not necessarily "right" or "wrong" answers, only "important" answers — in other words, things that strike each individual as significant. Explore these as a family.

Next, ask what this scripture has to do with trusting the Lord's living oracles, the prophets. Allow family members to share their thoughts.

Game

To open children's minds as to the importance of preparing, you could play the following two familiar games, but with an important twist. Be patient while the children participate, because the feelings of "losing" will be important when you teach the actual spiritual purpose of the activity. Ask everyone to play "nice", because there is a purpose to the games.

Musical Chairs

Items needed:

chairs (one less than there are family members)
music player (with a remote, if possible)

Place chairs in a circle or a line. Make sure there is one fewer chair than there are family members. As long as the music plays, the family walks around the chairs. As soon as the music randomly stops, each person needs to find a free chair to sit on. The person left without a chair must now wait out the rest of the game. Remove one chair. Repeat until you have only one chair and one winner.

Without explaining, move immediately to the next game.

Mine, All Mine

Items needed:

toys (one fewer than there are family members)
music player (with a remote, if possible)

Scatter a variety of toys on a table top or on the floor. Again, start the music and the players walk around the table or the floor. When the music randomly stops, instruct everyone to grab a toy. The person without a toy now must sit out the rest of the game. Remove one toy. Repeat until you have only one toy and one winner.*

Application.

Have everyone return to their seats. Ask how it felt to be standing without a chair or without a toy. Allow the family members to vent any frustrations or to share any difficulties they had with the moment.

Read the following quote from the insert found in the September 2007 Ensign:

Perhaps no counsel has been repeated more often than how to manage wisely our income ... Too many in the Church have failed to avoid unnecessary debt. They have little, if any financial reserve. The solution is to budget, to live within our means, and to save some for the future (President Thomas S. Monson, Ensign, Sep 1986, 3).

Ask what this quote might have to do with the games just played. What is it like when resources run out? What kinds of feelings result?

Then ask questions similar to, "What can we do to ensure this never happens to our family?" and "How can we make sure we will always have sufficient for our needs?" Make a list of suggestions the family comes up with.

Final Thoughts

Ask the family if they would support a family fast in September. The purpose would be to explore how best to prepare the family in frugal preparedness approaches so that food and finances will never run out.

Invite the family to think on these things and to come to the next FHE with any additional ideas or suggestions or personal sacrifices they could proffer to make a difference.

Perhaps your family might want to study in greater detail the article in September 2007's Ensign entitled, "One for the Money." They might even want to take the twelve points therein and shape the next three months of FHEs around these points.

Closing Prayer

Invite someone to pray and to invite the Lord's help and inspiration in these ideas.

Refreshments

String cheese would be a fun refreshment at the end of this FHE. Show the kids how you can pull a tiny string from the main part of the cheese and then eat it. String cheese is fun, because the more carefully and thinly you pull a string off, the more there seems to be to go around. While snacking on the strings, ask how this is like a smart family who carefully prepares for the future.

Summary

When we do our part to prepare our family against that which is to come, the Lord will bestow mighty blessings upon us. It might take time and perspective to see His hand, but it will be there. We will be counted among the most fortunate.

Actually, the Lord would have all His children receive the blessings of peace and prosperity that come from hearkening to His counsel through the prophets. When we do so, even though we might live through the frightening times that President John Taylor spoke of in 1879, we will live to see the blessings promised by another of the Lord's early servants, Orson Pratt. He said:

The hand of the Lord will be over us to sustain us, and we will spread forth. He will multiply us in the land; He will make us a great people, and strengthen our borders, and send forth the missionaries of this people to the four quarters of the earth to publish peace and glad tidings of great joy and proclaim that there is still a place left in the heart of the American continent where there are peace and safety and refuge from the storms, desolations and tribulations coming upon the wicked (Journal of Discourses, 12:345).

As Latter-day Saint people, we so often quote, "If ye are prepared ye shall not fear" (D&C 38:30). Let's get busy so that we might be amongst those who do not fear, who hold peace in their hearts, and who value frugality as a way of living. In so doing, we free our children from bondage of many kinds and protect them against the storms that are to come.

This is the power that weekly Family Home Evenings can bring!

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* If your children are older, they might still enjoy playing these games. If not, perhaps you could play the Game of Life and talk instead about how it relates to being prepared financially.


C.S. Bezas' new book is now in LDS bookstores and has been called perfect for youth leaders and parents of teens. Powerful Tips for Powerful Teachers: Helping Youth Find Their Spiritual Wings is also available by clicking here.