Well, I was in charge of FHE last night, and I had selected the topic: the Commandments from the FHE Jar. I had been thinking of it all week.
I love doing crafts and cute things, so I was thinking that I would make a cute pattern for the girls to embroider (a good FHE and Faith in God goal in one!). I chose the scripture:
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.” – Luke 10:27
The thing is, on Sunday, I started thinking of another direction to take the family home evening, so we didn’t actually do this…although I still think I’d like to!
It’s funny – how sometimes Family Home Evening works that way. There are times when we prepare a lesson only minutes before we hold FHE. Other times, we have the luxury to plan something really great. Then there are times when we want to do something, but we can feel the Spirit gently tug us in another direction.
I decided we would need a fresh batch of Peanut Butter Brownies for the lesson and activity. (Recipe follows…these are good!)…So, before the girls got home from school, Sasquatch and I baked up some brownies.
Sasquatch measuring out the salt in her hand.
Sasquatch adds the eggs.
Sometimes preparing for FHE is as fun as FHE itself – especially if it involves some kind of dough or batter…
When it came time for the lesson, we began with this scripture:
” Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” – Matthew 22:37-40
We had a discussion about these two commandments, and how every single commandment and covenant we make can be traced back to these commandments.
For example: Thou shalt not kill – if we love our neighbor as ourselves, we won’t kill them!
or Thou shalt have no other gods before me – when we love God, He is at the center of our worship, and we won’t have other “gods” take His place.
We also discussed the relationship between the commandments – of loving God and loving others. Sometimes, we may have a hard time loving others. When we learn to love God, our ability to love others will grow. Homey made an especially powerful observation: The more we see things from Heavenly Father’s perspective, the more we learn to love one another.
One of the best examples I’ve experienced in my life – of loving others – has been given by our surrogate Grandma…Grandma Gold. We knew her when we lived in AZ two years ago. Then we moved to Arkie-land, and we missed her so much! She loves everyone. She reaches out to people in need. She blesses others with the blessings that she has received in her life. She constantly gives herself: to her family, children, friends, and neighbors. We have been the blessed recipients of her love. Through her actions, we have felt the Love of the Lord in our lives.
While we lived in Arkie-land, we were showered with notes, gifts, and treats from Grandma Gold. She never forgot about us even when we were so far away. We decided that we would do a better job to keep the commandments – and show our love and gratitude to our Heavenly Father and Grandma Gold – by dropping off some brownies, flowers and a card. We haven’t seen her in a few years, and we wanted to be nice to her for once!
Brownies for Grandma Gold.
We had fun, driving down to Grandma Gold’s. We didn’t get a hold of her before-hand, so our visit was a surprise. Of course, she accepted us with open arms and it was such a happy reunion.
I’m grateful for the examples that we have in those around us. Truly, we can learn to better keep the commandments from those around us.
Who inspires you to keep the commandments? Do something to show them appreciation!
Check out another FHE Experience at Jocelyn’s Blog.
Peanut Butter Brownies
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Peanut Butter Filling
4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick), melted
3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8″ square baking pan with non-stick spray.
- Melt together the butter and chocolate (you can do this on the stove in a double boiler or in the microwave). Stir together until smooth. Set aside and let cool slightly.
- Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a small mixing bowl.
- Whisk together sugar and eggs in a large mixing bowl. With a wooden spoon or spatula, stir in the chocolate mixture and vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture until just incorporated. Add the chocolate chips.
- Make the Peanut butter filling by mixing together the melted butter, confectioner’s sugar, peanut butter, salt, and vanilla.
- Pour 1/3 of the brownie batter into prepared pans. Drop large (tablespoon size) drops of peanut butter filling onto the chocolate. Do not use it all.
- Pour the rest of the chocolate batter over the Peanut butter filling and gently spread to make the surface even. Drop remaining peanut butter filling by the tablespoon. Gently drag a knife through the batter to create swirls.
- Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until set in the center. Let cool.
