And They Dwelt in a Tent

We JUST finished Family Home Evening because we’re the awesome sort that do those kinds of things at nearly 10 o’clock in the PM.

Here’s the thing: we went up to Mom’s to have a little meet n’ greet with my brother, Steve, who is here to visit. We got home late and I was ready to CANCEL Family Home Evening. The girl was in tears. The boy’s voice was growing louder and louder as he attempted to get anyone’s attention over his sister’s wailing…
And I was ready for bed.
The grouchier we ALL got, the more I realized that I needed to force Family Home Evening to happen. Within ten minutes, we were all sitting on the couch, singing “I am a Child of God” through our teeth (or not at all in Lacy’s case. She just sobbed through it).
After the prayer, I started to tell the kids a story about a family.
A Dad, a mom, and 4 kids.
The dad was named Lehi.
The mom was named Sariah.
The boys were named Laman, Lemmuel, Nephi, and Sam.

I told the kids Lehi was a prophet a LOOOOOONNNNGGG time ago. I told them he lived in Jerusalem.
“One night, the Lord told Lehi that he needed to pack up some of his stuff, get his family together and leave their home in Jerusalem. So he said, ‘Laman! Lemmuel! Wake up! I have something to tell you! Sariah! Nephi! Sam! Get up!! We need to leave Jerusalem!'”
We talked about them walking all day long, stopping to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. But then… it got dark! What could they do? They couldn’t walk in the dark, so they had to put up a tent.

I told my husband his name was now Lehi. I was Sariah. Trent was assigned to be Nephi, and Lacy resigned herself to the couch where she could continue to cry.
“That’s fine,” I said, plopping her down, “You just can’t help us with the tent or play in it. No biggie.”
Then Lehi and I applauded Nephi as he carried a chair from the table to the living room.
“You’re SO STRONG!” We cheered, “Nephi, we are SO PROUD of you!”
As it started coming together, the girl hopped off the couch, assumed the role of Sam and helped us finish the tent.
And now, as I log on to finish a few things online before hopping into bed, I can hear my kids in the tent.
They begged to sleep in it, and who am I to deny it?

From the tent, I’m hearing Trenton say, “Hif (if) you take Nephi’s spot then Nephi will hafta get mad at you!”
And I hear Sam reply, “Nephi, get in here!”
And Nephi says, “Nephi needs his spot!”

Ahhhh, Sariah is leaving them to it. But if they don’t stop fighting soon, I’m sending them straight back to Jerusalem.

Comments

  1. Love it! You are so creative….and so so funny!

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