"...The family is central to the Creator's plan for the eternal destiny of His children," states The Family: A Proclamation to the World. Considering the important role the family plays in the life of each person born on the earth, time should be dedicated to ensure this central unit is functioning well. This is where family councils come in to play!
My family began holding family councils this last summer after our Stake Presidency along with President Nelson urged families to begin holding these sacred meetings together. This wasn't new counsel but I was reluctant to try for many years. By the summer I felt like there was major emphasis placed on the need for family councils and I finally decided we should give it a try.
I'm happy to report it has been a mostly successful endeavor! Our family has held (relatively) regular family councils every Sunday night since August. As part of the family council we try to follow the structure of the apostles and their council. We begin our meeting with greetings in the form of gratitude. We always start with a prayer and then we all get to share one (or more) act of service that was done for them over the last week by someone within our family. We have found this to be an effective way to lift everyone's spirits and maintain the spirit within our meeting which is a fete in and of itself! I have a prepared agenda that I put up on the television for everyone to reference. It typically says a lot of the same things. Mainly we go through our upcoming schedules for the week. Address any conflicts with timing of activities. Plan out the chores and laundry days. And lastly we open it up to discuss any problems that have occurred over the last week that anyone would like help addressing by the group. This is probably the trickiest part of the whole meeting. However, it has worked out pretty well to allow each person to talk and give their suggestions. We have had to strictly enforce the rule of no interrupting, yelling, or speaking in a rude or cruel way. Our goal is to make sure everyone has a voice, even if that voice is 5 years old and offers no comment actually relating to the issue at hand (I.e. My sister keeps leaving her clothes on my side of the room... 5-year old solution: I brought my unicorn to school today...) A few issues have been addressed using the family council method. We implemented this based on the teachings on family councils shared within the last 6 months by the prophet and apostles. But, this portion of the family council is an area we need to work on in order to help increase its productive value. I hope we can one day have a council like President Ballard describes, "They speak as they are moved by the Spirit. They strive to feel the manifestations of the Spirit concerning the item discussed, which may necessitate a change in their own feelings and thoughts in order to be in harmony with the entire Council."
Overall, I have seen nothing but blessings come from instituting family council. We are all on the same page. Our family as a whole feels less overwhelmed over the coming week because we all know what is happening. Family council has helped our family be more organized and reduced the number of arguments that occur throughout the week over chores, laundry, and activities.
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