New Year's Family Interview/Goals

We decided to start a new family tradition in preparing for the new year: Family Interviews! But, of course, we first had to start our FHE out with the topic of goals. When I asked Gabriel if he knew what a "goal" was he thought I had said "gold," so he tried to explain how it is like a shiny gem (earlier in the day he had watched a show about gem stones/gem shapes). We had to clarify the difference in the sounds of the words and then discuss what a goal was. Even with all of that he still referred to it as "GOLD."

But, I suppose, in their own right, goals are "golden," especially if they are the kind of goals that help us improve and grow.

I wanted to know what kind of goals would not only helps us to improve and grow, but would also be the Lord's will. So, I went to the scriptures and looked up the word "goal" in the Topical Guide, which referred me to "Objectives/Perfection" I turned to "objectives" and following that were multiple scriptural references and excerpts. There were a few that stood out to me:

"Seek ye first the kingdom of God..."
"Men are that they might have joy..."
"If ye shall press forward...Ye shall have eternal life..."
"Be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize..."
"Seek to bring forth and establish the cause of Zion..."
"See ye earnestly the best gifts..."
"Seek me diligently and ye shall find me..."

We discussed as a family how our goals should be leading us (and those around us) back to our Heavenly Father. So, with that in mind I asked each family member to share a goal they could work on in 2011. Here's what we came up with:

Ursala: Attend the temple every other month (6 times/yr). Temple attendance has been difficult for me to make a priority especially when it's over 2 hrs drive away. But, I've already planned my temple trips (with hubby) over the next 6 months, and I plan to stick to it.

Gabriel: Listen to new Primary teacher and be reverent. Gabriel officially starts Primary this Sunday. In nursery he would often have a hard time sitting still for their brief lessons, so we discussed that as a goal for him.

Matila (Nana): Help Kale (her sister) join the church. Kale is Matila's younger sister who is mentally disabled. She lives in Fiji, and is one of the sweetest, purest souls you'll ever meet. She currently attends the Methodist church in Fiji, however I believe she would be very open to hearing from the missionaries.

Patrick: Do 100% home teaching EVERY month. Since moving into the Akron Ward Patrick has been able to achieve 100%  Home Teaching almost every month, because he and his previous companion were on top of it. But, he has been assigned a new companion that does not like to home teach, and won't be without his challenges.

I've printed these four goals and put them on our family art board, so that when we walk by it several times a day we are reminded of our goals, or as Gabriel would say, "Our GOLD!"

NEXT, we did our New Year's Family Interviews. I wrote down some basic questions I thought would be good "family history" type questions, and would also reveal little parts of us. Then we took turns interviewing each other. It was a lot of fun! First we had to write our names, which I think is kind of neat...to see everybody's handwriting. Gabriel insisted on writing his own name (even though he is not capable of it yet). Check it out (click on it to enlarge):

Happy New Year!