Having a Christ-centered home has been one of my biggest goals as a mom. With the world around us constantly in turmoil and in moral decay, I worry about my children going out into the world. I worry about what they’ll see, hear, and experience. I know their lives growing up will be so much different from mine was – I didn’t have the technology and internet so readily available at my fingertips. And I know there will be other things that come our way. It stresses me out to think about it. But I remember President Boyd K Packer speaking in the last few years about not fearing the future. In 2004 he said,
The moral values upon which civilization itself must depend spiral downward at an ever-increasing pace. Nevertheless, I do not fear the future.
So how can we create a Christ-centered home?
Emily Belle Freeman just came out with a new book titled just that – The Christ-Centered Home. Have you read her other books? She is a fabulous author! Her love for the scriptures is tangible and makes you want to dive in them too. You can also read my reviews on two of her other books: Celebrating A Christ-Centered Easter and Celebrating A Christ-Centered Christmas. Both are excellent and have great suggestions for traditions and scripture stories to share with your families during the holidays.
In The Christ-Centered Home, Emily walks you through the different homes that Christ taught in throughout the New Testament. I love her introduction that talks about how we can best learn how to make our homes Christ-centered by seeing how Christ taught in the home. She suggests that you read each chapter and then take a time to share and discuss it with your own family. We take so much on as parents to make our home a place of refuge and where the Spirit can be, but it’s important to remember that the children can also be apart of creating a strong home. So for a family home evening night or a family discussion, you can share the story and what you learned. You can also share a fun treat that goes with the story. And this is all done for you in the book! Each chapter ends with a template on how to discuss the topic with your family.
I also love that in each chapter Emily has thought-provoking questions that apply to the topic of the chapter. She helps you really think about how you feel about things, how you’re responding, and what’s going on in your home. I think once you actually think about it and identify how you feel, then you can better identify what needs to change or what is already going well.
I may be the only one guilty of this, but I read things that I like and want to implement them in my home and then they get shuffled around with every other thing that’s on my to-do list. I love that these ideas are more likely to stick because I can think about the questions (and write them down on the lines provided in the book) and then share my thoughts and what I’ve learned with my family.
Emily Belle Freeman is one of my favorite authors. She is easy to connect with and her passion is easily seen in the pages. Definitely read The Christ-Centered Home to help invite Jesus in.