Sometime in the fall of 2010 I was feeling like our family needed some more unity. With so many kids with very different personalities (another post on that to come soon) I was wishing that we could feel closer together as a family--more united in our goals. I thought about how we sing hymns at church--how one of the goals of singing hymns is to unite the congregation. So I decided that we should start singing hymns as a family in the morning. I say as a family, but really it was just the kids and I, since David always leaves so early. I started waking everyone up a few minutes earlier. We started with Hymn #1 and have been working through the hymn book ever since. We sang every hymn--no skipping the painful unfamiliar ones--and sang at least 2 verses (however we did skip the men's choir songs written in the tenor clef--I drew the line there). We sang the Christmas ones at Christmas time, but otherwise, we went right in order. This morning we sang the last one--"God Save the King." (The kids were surprised at the familiar music). Yay! We made it through! We all felt a big sense of accomplishment.
When I first introduced the morning hymn routine, I thought the kids would complain, but surprisingly they didn't. I couldn't always get them all to sing (cough cough, eh...Ben), but at least we were all there together. We always follow the hymn with family prayer. Then we send Rachel off to school and it is time for the younger ones to eat breakfast and get ready for the day. This year Sarah leaves for seminary super early so she doesn't sing with us anymore. But I figure she is getting her spiritual boost there instead.
I have often found myself singing the morning hymn throughout the day. I love it!
Did we accomplish our goal? Is there more unity in our home? I can't honestly say. But I'd like to think so. (How does one measure that sort of thing?) But we've surely had some positive results: We've learned some hymns we didn't know, we've filled our home with songs of Zion, and found ourselves singing hymns throughout the day. And the best part--we've filled our home with the Spirit for a few minutes each morning.
In the new For Strength of Youth pamphlet it states:
"Learn and sing the hymns. Hymns can lift your spirit, move you to righteous action, and help you withstand the temptations of the adversary."
Not a bad way to start the day.
So what now? I think we start from the beginning again.
When I first introduced the morning hymn routine, I thought the kids would complain, but surprisingly they didn't. I couldn't always get them all to sing (cough cough, eh...Ben), but at least we were all there together. We always follow the hymn with family prayer. Then we send Rachel off to school and it is time for the younger ones to eat breakfast and get ready for the day. This year Sarah leaves for seminary super early so she doesn't sing with us anymore. But I figure she is getting her spiritual boost there instead.
I have often found myself singing the morning hymn throughout the day. I love it!
Did we accomplish our goal? Is there more unity in our home? I can't honestly say. But I'd like to think so. (How does one measure that sort of thing?) But we've surely had some positive results: We've learned some hymns we didn't know, we've filled our home with songs of Zion, and found ourselves singing hymns throughout the day. And the best part--we've filled our home with the Spirit for a few minutes each morning.
In the new For Strength of Youth pamphlet it states:
"Learn and sing the hymns. Hymns can lift your spirit, move you to righteous action, and help you withstand the temptations of the adversary."
Not a bad way to start the day.
So what now? I think we start from the beginning again.
1 comment:
I love that idea. I think I may steal it. Thanks for sharing.
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