Lesson 12 Family Councils

I think having a couple council is very important.  This is something that my wife and I already do but we call it couple inventory.  It is something that I learned on my mission and it is something that we have tried to do this year.  One of the reasons that we started to do implement this over the course of the year is that we realized that we were not meeting our goals as a couple.  In fact, we didn’t even really have goals.  A couple council gives us the opportunity to have some one on one time, something that we don’t get nearly enough of with 3 small kids, 2 full time jobs, school, and church callings.  During that time, we have an agenda of how we want the time to be spent.  We start with a prayer and begin to talk about the things that we believe that we are doing well.  We then move into things that we want to improve on for our next meeting.  We write down our goals and remind each other throughout the month what our goals are.  This can be something as simple or something deep.  One thing to know is that you have to be open to receiving criticism.  You also have to recognize the strengths and weaknesses that you each possess.  Last, we tell each other how much we love each other.  This helps us end on a happy note and understand that even though there are things that we believe we can improve, the most important thing is that we love each other, even when times are difficult.