Prayers, was inactive, now getting (trying) back into the swing of things

[Dee23]

Good Morning to all. My name is Depree and I am single mom of 3 children. Israel almost 5, Emmanuel almost 4 and Serenity 7 months. I've been inactive for about 2 years and this year, I decided that I wanted to be happy and that my children deserved to be happy. I find my happiness in attend church, reading scriptures and praying with my family. I am trying to get back into the swing of things. My older son, Israel dislikes primary--so much so he yells screams and threatens me until I just leave. It's hard for me to balance sitting with him and then keeping my little Serenity from crawling around (eating on everyone's shoes). Emmanuel loves beinga Sunbeam and cries when he thinks we aren't going to church. So shine on , Emmanuel Shine on! We have scriptures and I try to read to them from the scriptures, but they don't seem interested. So we just talk about the Book of Mormon Prophets Like Nephi and I try to make the Scriptures come alive for them. I thought about getting that book , Behold Our Little Ones (?)just helping them learn again the basic principles of the gospel. We pray at night and before meals. I think I feel like I am a failure, because I was so active before--and full of spririt and now I am struggling so much. I work a lot and so I am trying to find out a good time to have FHE. They see their Dad on the Weekens so Monday would be okay, just short and sweet. I think I am full of a mixture of emotions as I feel like I have failed my boys by not attending church or living the gospel. I feel a lot of guilt and shame for that. Thank you all for letting me vent.

[Misshalfway]

That guilt and shame doesn't come from God. Be kinder to yourself. God doesn't condemn us nearly as much as we condemn ourselves!

Honor those feelings inside of you about restoring your activity. IF you were "full of spirit" before, you can get back all those blessings of the spirit. Betcha it will come back fast.

Your kids are still incredibly young. Don't underestimate how resilient they are. Reallly short FHE's would be absolutely acceptable. Like 5 min lessons. Try using games and letting them participate. Maybe add gospel concepts to the books you read them at bed time or talk about how this character was honest and this character wasn't. And I find that I teach the gospel everyday just as life happens. The opportunities are everywhere as my kids experiment with all sorts of choices. I don't have to worry about creating lessons for them. I just teach as life comes.

And if your kids are resistant to church, you could try to meet some of the kids in the class outside of church by having playdates. Then they know somebody fun when they go. Invite the teachers or Primary pres to come to your house and meet your kids. Then when they come home and show you their drawings from church, you can celebrate how fun it was and reinforce the lessons.

Good luck. My guess is you are doing just fine.

[rameumptom]

Go back to Church. Talk to the bishop about the struggles you are having with your son, and see if perhaps the bishop can have someone help you with your kid(s).

Talk with your son and see what it would take for him to happily attend Church. There's nothing wrong with a small bribe to help him make the decision to be bearable. If he's totally against it, perhaps your ex could watch him on Sundays during Church, so you and your two little ones can attend in peace.