Council and Counsel

This week I have learned a lot about how to effectively communicate with your family and specifically your spouse. Keep reading if you want to learn more about these things!

Decision making can be really hard and stressful! There are so many different levels of decision making like what to have for dinner to moving to another part of the country. Regardless of what the situation is, it takes effort and good communication.

My Family.

Ya'll know how much I love to talk about my own family in my blogs so here I go again! So this week, I've been thinking a lot about the way that families make decisions together. Throughout my life, my family has had to make a lot of Looking back on how my own family has done this over the years has been really interesting to think about. I remember whenever my mom and dad were presented with a decision they had to make, they would go to their room and talk together. Minutes or maybe even hours would pass, they would come out of their room and ask for the family to gather around each other. They would tell us what the situation was, their thoughts on it, and their plan of action. Then they would ask us, the kids, what our thoughts were. Sometimes there would be some complaining and sometimes we could care less what our parents decided but my parents always gave us the chance to say something if we wanted to. After this conversation, we would all kneel down in prayer together and ask God if our decision was what He wanted us to do. I loved that! They would council together privately and then include us in the big family council. This process just let me know that they cared what we thought and had to say. They wanted to have everybody's opinion that they could take into account to make the best and final decision for all of us. It also helped us to just come closer together as a family and know how everybody felt in those moments.

Counsel with the Lord

There is a scripture in the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ that points out an important principle I want to share with you. It says, "Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for thy good." I know that some decisions can be really hard to make on our own. We kind of tend to overthink things and are never sure if the decision we are making is the right one. I know from experience, that as I have prayed with my family on important matters, we can receive guidance and direction on what decisions to make. This also helps us to draw closer to our family because God is with us. We won't be as stressed with the decision we make because we know that it is all in the Lord's hands.

Conclusion

I know for a fact that family councils are so effective. They help in so many ways to make us stronger and happier families. I also know that counsels with the Lord also bring the same results. I hope that you have learned a little bit more about communication and decision making. :)