Family Home Evening Helps: Just the Two of Us

A few years ago, our fifth and final child left home for college, leaving us empty nesters. We wanted to follow the counsel of Church leaders to have family home evening, but after years of Monday nights with our children, we weren’t sure what to do without them.

We knew we didn’t want a teacher-student format. We just wanted to share the evening and distinguish it from the other nights home together. Our first resolve was to stay away from the television and telephone as much as possible. The computer, however, became a useful tool for family history research. Accessing Internet sites that our family history center director suggested, we shared our first family night for two—a wonderfully productive evening that passed all too quickly.

Soon we felt we couldn’t wait for our Monday-night family history sessions, and we realized that we needed a lesson too. We began studying the Relief Society and priesthood manuals, Gospel Doctrine lessons, and articles of interest found in Church magazines.

Slowly we stopped focusing on what we couldn’t do without our children’s participation and discovered all the varied activities and knowledge we could share as a couple. Whether your children are gone from home or you haven’t yet been blessed with children, family home evening will bring you closer together as a couple and invite the Spirit into your home.

Ken and Marion Stewart, Hastings Ward, Grand Rapids Michigan Stake

Silhouette by Beth Whittaker