Family camp July 2012

We had 50 people at our Lewis family camp, July 19-21. How great was that? Thanks again to Matthew for the family picture.

The theme this year was on the Family Proclamation, with decorations form the Stanford ladies. For skit presentations on Thursday evening, each family chose a topic from the list of things that help bring happiness in family life as listed in the Family Proclamation:

The skits were very clever and creative:
Faith-- David Lewis family
Forgiveness--Blake family
Love--Stanford family including Troy & Katrina
Compassion--Nathan & Gloria and also Soderquist family (according to Alison, there is no way that we can have too much compassion)
Work--Chandler family
Wholesome recreational activities--Matthew Lewis family

For the two morning devotionals, everyone 18 and over (who wanted to) were asked to present a challenge that faces families these days and some solutions to that problem. (Here are Alison’s notes:

Aunt Emilie—Using Christ as our example, use kindness and ‘suffering long’ with each other in our families.
Uncle Bruce—Problem: So many stresses in our lives that we tend to take it out on the people in our family. Solution: Exhibit ‘patience’ in the face of stress. We live in an instant-gratification world. We need to be patient. Realize that Heavenly Father is in charge and our problems are not that significant in the eternal scheme of things.
Heidi—What she saw in Spain is that an individual member of a family with an addiction (usually law of chastity or word of wisdom problems) was the biggest problem. It affected everybody in the family. Solution: Admit your addictions, even if they’re small. Anything you focus on that becomes more important than the people around you and your relationships with them is an addiction.
Katrina—Problem: Low self esteem. Solution: Remember we’re children of Heavenly Father. Also, put relationships ahead of technology. And as a young adult, you can call home once a week and build relationships even when you’re living away.
Dad—Problem: contention. Solution: Realize the difference between ‘tension’ and ‘contention.’ Tension is what you have when you don’t know the outcome. Contention is what you get when people let selfishness into the discussion. Be selfless and try to understand the other person’s point of view.
Troy—Problem: media. Solution: Keep computer out in open. They don’t have any tv or internet, so they have to do wholesome activities together like board games.
Rachel—Problem: Spouses falling in love with Facebook friends then divorcing. Solution: Joint Facebook accounts once you are married.
Aunt Angela—Problem: contention. Solution: Apologize quickly. “Agree with thine adversary quickly.” And like Nephi, “frankly forgive” somebody who rails against you—no railing or reviling back at them!
Uncle Matthew—Remember that we’re trying to get our spirits to control our bodies. We need to cultivate self discipline and selflessness. Evaluate ourselves every day.
Me—Problem: Teenagers pairing up too early is Satan’s way of weakening marriage decisions. Solution: Grandma Lewis’ social pyramid. A strong base of same gender friendships. Boy and girl activities beginning in a limited way around 14 years old. Group dating starting at 16 or later. Dating a variety of people. Exclusively dating one person waits until you are actually old enough to get married if you decide you like each other enough. We have to carve out a new LDS dating culture in opposition to Disney Dating.
Uncle Scott—Divorce is the problem. Solution: Small daily decisions of service and sacrifice. It’s the difference between being selfless and selfish.
Uncle Greg—Problem: getting ourselves in big problems and being frustrated and thinking we’re powerless to change. Solution: the Agency Ladder. Recognizing there are steps that lead you to the top of the slide (where you can’t stop the behavior). Each of those steps before you get to the top of the ladder is a choice—a place to exert your agency. You CAN stop climbing to the point where you are out of control.
Aunt Valerie—Problem: Kids thinking they know more than their parents. Solution: Experience Math. She brought Grandpa and Grandma up to the front and added their years of experience on earth—128. She then brought up Jonathan or somebody—12 years of experience. Would the counsel of people with a score of 128 be worth listening to? Who would know more—someone with 12 or someone with 128? J
Alyssa—Problem: Disorder in the home. Solution: Be in the moment and enjoy yourselves, but then take just a few minutes to clean as you go. Individuals need to be proactive and clean up after themselves or clean other messes they find. A clean home makes a more thriving environment for a family.
Nathan and Gloria—Problem: Individuality. Solution: Knowing that we’re happier married to someone who cares about us than we would be single.
Staci—Problem: people having a hard time getting along. Solution: Be patient and slow to be irritated with different ways of doing things. Put other person first—give 100% each.
Miguel—As a single adult, the small, simple things like prayer and scripture study don’t seem important. Just put them on a checklist and DO them every day. People in families change over time through experiences and challenges, so find points where your interests intersect and DO stuff together.
Camille—Problem: We feel busy. Solution: Take time to listen to each other—it’s important.
Grandpa—how to bind couples together better. We need to learn to communicate love in a language our spouse understands. He gave every couple a copy of the “Love Languages” book and told us to study it. I think everyone is taking him seriously. I know Dad and I are. We’ve read halfway through the book. I came away very serious about making a study and figuring out how to show Dad I love him in ways he’ll appreciate.