Just the Friend

Jenny Hartzog, Alabama

My children love going to church, but they struggle to sit still in sacrament meeting. Quiet books, coloring books, snacks, and toys never held their attention for long, and they often quarreled over them. I even tried practicing a “reverence time” with them during the week. Nothing seemed to work. Finally, I stopped bringing extra activities in my church bag. Instead, I gathered a collection of past Friend magazines for them to look at after the sacrament. They can each have a pen to write in the magazines. They can also look through the hymnbook or sit quietly. Those are their options. For us, this change simplifies our sacrament meeting experience each week and helps us to focus more on the Savior.