Getting conversations rolling during dinner may be difficult; especially if you have older children that have learned that they don’t have to talk if they don’t want to. So here’s an idea to help you bring the point home on the importance of learning to converse with one another: 1) Gather several balls. 2) Have family members sit on the floor on the opposite side of the room. 3) Throw the balls to individuals with the instruction to “catch it and hold it in your lap.” 4) When all have balls in their laps, just sit and look at them for a moment or two until someone asks you what point you are trying to make. 5) At this point say, “It really isn’t much of a game until you throw the ball back to me is it? Then point out that conversation also requires people to toss their ideas back and forth to one another. Point out that if your “catch” another person’s comment but fail to return a comment of your own, it is like holding the ball in you lap. The game is dead-ended. 6) Now, practice “throwing” words back and forth with family members. You might ask, “Joe, Did you have a good time with Grandma, today ?” If Joe responds, Yes,” then he has caught your words but has failed to return any words back to me. If Joe responds with, “Yes, we had ice cream!” Joe has learned to return the conversation ball. 7) Be sure to point out how well family members are playing conversation ball during the passing days.
Although I could supply you with lots more conversation questions for your Conversation Jars, I got thinking in the night that good quotes are fun to talk about, too. So, look up “conversation starters” on Google if you want more of them. Here now, I will include some lovely quotes that might add meaningful conversations to your meals (They can be copied and then pasted into your word processor. Print them up, cut them and add them to your Conversation Jar:
You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along’….You must do the thing you think you cannot do. Eleanor Roosevelt
Sometimes God calms the storm raging around us, and sometimes He calms us and lets the storm rage on.
To Have striven, to have made an effort, to have been true to certain ideals—this alone is worth the struggle. We are here to add what we can to, not to get what we can from life.—Sir William Osler
This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever, in its place is something that you have left behind...let it be something good!
Security is not born of inexhaustible wealth but of unquenchable faith. Spencer W. Kimball
A heart stitched with prayer is more precious to God than a tapestry of gold.
God made you as you are in order to use you as He planned.
When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us. Helen Keller
Worldly hope is wishful thinking, gentle dreaming of fairies, magic wands, and limitless credit card balances. Christ-centered hope focuses on the truth that with God nothing is impossible.
The Lord saved for now those spirits who would have the courage and determination to face the world, and all the powers of the evil one and who would build up the Zion of our God, fearless of all consequences. George Q. Cannon
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. Mark Twain
There is no such thing in anyone’s life as an unimportant day. Alexander Woolcott
We can do no great things; only small things with great love.
Mother Teresa
Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity. Henry Van Dyke
You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love. Henry Drummond
I think that God means that we shall do more than we have yet done in furtherance of his plans and he will open the way for our doing. Abraham Lincoln
Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity. Margaret D. Nadauld
We salute you, sisters, for the joy that is yours as you rejoice in a baby’s first smile and as you listen with eager ear to a child’s first day at school which bespeaks a special selflessness. Women, more quickly than others, will understand the possible dangers when the word self is militantly placed before other words like fulfillment. You rock a sobbing child without wondering if today’s world is passing you by, because you know you hold tomorrow tightly in your arms. Neal A. Maxwell.
The right way to pray for the answer to all your problems is to feel and know that the Indwelling God knows only the answer. Because this is true, you will only know the answer and recall the truth: God never faileth. Joseph Murphy
Time is really all we have. And every individual has an equal portion of it. The trick is to get more out of what is available to us. Gordon B. Hinckley
Truly, there is nothing more vital to our success and our happiness here in mortality that learning to hear the voice of the Spirit, for it is the Spirit who reveals to us our identity-which isn’t just who we are, but who we have always been. Sheri L. Dew
Life is an opportunity, benefit from it. Life is beauty, admire it. Life is bliss, taste it. Life is a dream, realize it. Life is a challenge, meet it. Life is a duty, complete it. Life is a game, play it. Life is a promise, fulfill it. Life is sorrow, overcome it. Life is a song, sing it. Life is a struggle, accept it. Life is a tragedy, confront it. Life is an adventure, dare it. Life is luck, make it. Life is too precious, do not destroy it. Life is life, fight for it. Mother Teresa
There is no obstacle too great, no challenge too difficult, if we have faith. Gordon B. Hinckley
Self trust is the essence of heroism. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Only the Lord can compare crosses, but all crosses are easier to carry when we keep moving. Neal A. Maxwell
For the faithful, our finest hours are sometimes during or just following our darkest hours. Neal A. Maxwell
Be glad of life, because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars. Henry Van Dyke
Solitude is bearable only with god. Andre’ Gide
You can’t do anything about the length of your life, but you can do something about its width and depth. Shira Tehrani
The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook. William James
If...we truly want the best for our sons and daughters, we would want for them—not status—but more meekness, mercy, love, patience, and submissiveness. Neal A. Maxwell
With every ounce of...obedience comes a bushel of blessings. Neal A. Maxwell
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. Eleanor Roosevelt
If you suffer pain and heartache, for the good that you have done, God has honored you and blessed you, to become just like His son. Peter G. Czerny
Motherhood is not what was left over after our Father blessed His sons with priesthood ordination. It was the most ennobling endowment He could give His daughters, a sacred trust that gave women an unparalleled role in helping His children keep their second estate. Sheri L. Dew
Nothing is so strong as gentleness, and nothing is so gentle as real strength. Ralph Sockman
I wonder sometimes if we realize the importance of music. I wonder if we know that the Lord himself is concerned about it. Pres. George Albert Smith
We must be clear about our most crucial role as women if we hope to stand steadfast and immovable regarding the issues that swirl around our gender. For Satan has declared war on motherhood. He knows that those who rock the cradle can rock his earthly empire. And he knows that without righteous mothers loving and leading the next generation, the kingdom of God will fail. Sheri L. Dew
To withdraw into our private sanctuaries not only deprives others of our love, our talents, and our service, but it also deprives us of chances to serve, to love, and to be loved. Neal A. Maxwell
I am asking that we stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight. I am suggesting that as we go through life we “accentuate the positive.” I am asking that we look a little deeper for the good, that we still voices of insult and sarcasm, that we more generously compliment virtue and effort. Gordon B. Hinckley
All my life I’ve wanted to be somebody. But I see now I should have been more specific. Jane Wagner
I attribute my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education which I received from my mother. George Washington
Don’t let life discourage you. Everyone who got where he is had to begin where he was. Richard L. Evans
God does not begin by asking us about our ability, but only about our availability, and if we then prove our dependability, he will increase our capability! Neal A. Maxwell
Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power. Abraham Lincoln
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is. Albert Einstein
We can do no great things—only small things with great love. Mother Teresa
Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it. Helen Keller
Here is a test to find out whether your mission in life is complete. If you’re alive, it isn’t. Richard Bach
Prayer should be the key of the day and the lock of the night. Thomas Fuller
If wickedness never was happiness, then righteousness never was misery.
I do not pray for success. I ask for faithfulness. Mother Teresa
Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in my pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return. Mary Jean Iron
And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years. Abraham Lincoln
Only God can fully know what absolute honesty is. Therefore each of us has to conceive what this great ideal may be to the best of our ability. Bill W.
Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless. Mother Teresa
What you possess in the world will be found at the day of your death to belong to someone else. But what you are will be yours forever. Henry Van Dyke
Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be. Abraham Lincoln
If you judge people, you have no time to love them. Mother Teresa
If we find nothing of interest where we are, we are likely to find little of lasting interest where we wish to go. Edwin Way Teale
The greatest happiness you can have is knowing that you do not necessarily require happiness. William Saroyan
Be such a man, and live such a life, that if every man were such as you, and every life a life like yours, this earth would be God’s Paradise. Phillips Brooks
We are each of us angels with only one wing, & we can only fly by embracing one another. Luciano de Crescenzo
When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice. Cherokee Expression
We should not complain about our own life’s not being a rose garden when we remember who wore the crown of thorns. Neal A. Maxwell
Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. Harold Whitman
We are more than what we do, much more than what we accomplish...far more than what we possess. William Arthur Ward
We are not human beings on a spiritual journey. We are spiritual beings on a human journey. Steven R. Covey
It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that make happiness. Charles Spurgeon
When you’re having a genuine bad hair day and someone says, “Have a nice day,” simply respond with, “Thanks, but I’ve made other plans!”
Virtue and morality surely must be true principles of God; otherwise, why would we feel so badly when those we love are not virtuous or morally clean? Lori Nelson Bennett
Inspiration comes more as a feeling than as a sound. Elder Boyd K. Packer
It is the grand privilege of every Latter-day Saint...to have the manifestations of the spirit every day of our lives. Pres. Lorenzo Snow
Every man has the privilege to exercise these gifts and these privileges in the conduct of his own affairs; in bringing up his children in the way they should go; in the management of his business, or whatever he does. It is his right to enjoy the spirit of revelation and of inspiration to do the right thing, to be wise and prudent, just and good, in everything that he does. Pres. Harold B. Lee
Because it raises our spirits and helps us resist evil and seek good, the feeling of uplift that is communicated by reading the scriptures or by enjoying wholesome music, art, or literature is a distinct function (as well as a form) of revelation. Dallin H. Oaks
Restraint is one of the most common functions of revelation. It often comes by surprise. Even though we have not asked for revelation or guidance on a particular subject, if we are keeping the commandments of God and living in tune with his Spirit, a restraining force will steer us away from things we should not do. Dallin H. Oaks
A person may profit by noticing the first intimation of the spirit of revelation; for instance, when you feel pure intelligence flowing into you, it may give you sudden strokes of ideas...and thus by learning the Spirit of God and understanding it, you may grow into the principle of revelation. Prophet Joseph Smith
All of us are entitled to the spirit of prophecy & of revelation in our lives, both for our personal affairs & in our ministry. The prayerful study & pondering of the holy scriptures will do as much , or more than any other single thing, to bring that spirit, the spirit of prophecy and the spirit of revelation, into our lives. Elder Bruce R. McConkie
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