Children are our most precious gift from God–our eternal increase. (Dallin H. Oaks)
“I am the Child.
All the world waits for my coming.
All the earth watches with interest to see what I shall become.
Civilization hangs in the balance,
For what I am, the world of tomorrow will be.
“I am the Child.
I have come into your world, about which I know nothing.
Why I came I know not;
How I came I know not;
I am curious; I am interested.
“I am the Child.
You hold in your hand my destiny.
You determine, largely, whether I shall succeed or fail.
Give me, I pray you, those things that make for happiness.
Train me, I beg you, that I may be a blessing to the world.” -(“The Child’s Appeal”: by Mamie Gene Cole)
Our children need us! We need our children! It’s a perfect partnership. We give them life’s happiness through teaching them the true source from which it comes. They give us purpose here on earth. My mom who raised 12 children on her own, is now helping raising 8 more. We all worry about her, yet, she is still full of life. I’m amazed at what she gets done in a day. My father who is by her side, told me these last 5 years have been his hardest ever. Why? He said because he has no purpose. He explained that my mom does dishes, washes laundry, fixes meals, and every other daily chore. She is so busy that it keeps her alive and young. Purpose is why we are here on earth. Tearfully, he finished, I can’t figure out my purpose now that I can’t work! Who knew that work keeps us purposeful which in turn fills our life with happiness? This next week, as you scrub floors, match socks, fix peanut butter sandwiches, and bandage any “boo-boos” that might happen, be thankful for a life of purpose.
I was recently asked by a young lady in college if it was okay to put off having children until life was comfortable? I personally don’t believe this is a question that can be answered by anyone other than the Lord. But we can read the words of our prophets and apostles.
“We also have a distinctive perspective on children. We look on the bearing and nurturing of children as part of God’s plan and a joyful and sacred duty of those given the power to participate in it.” -Dallin H. Oaks
“Yet we live in a time when many women wish to have no part in the bearing and nurturing of children. Many young adults delay marriage until temporal needs are satisfied. The average age of our Church members’ marriages has increased by more than two years, and the number of births to Church members is falling. The United States and some other nations face a future of too few children maturing into adults to support the number of retiring adults. Over 40 percent of births in the United States are to unwed mothers. Those children are vulnerable. Each of these trends works against our Father’s divine plan of salvation.” (Dallin H. Oaks)
All the spirits in heaven right now are desiring a body as much as we did. How thankful I am that my mother and father sacrificed for me. I am thankful I was welcomed to earth to a family where the gospel was taught and loved. I’m thankful for the foundation my parents gave me. We need to open our hearts and homes to children. There is no greater joy. We need to cultivate spirit filled homes where love is felt by our own families as well as every individual who walks in or by them. When President Russell M. Nelson told the youth to:
“Stand out; be different from the world. You and I know that you are to be a light to the world. Therefore, the Lord needs you to look like, sound like, act like, and dress like a true disciple of Jesus Christ.” He was talking to all of us.
We as women need to stand out, too. We need to stand out to our husbands as a light of kindness, patience, and love in their busy world of work life. Be a light, let them feel the difference when they are with you. We need to stand out to our children, who need to have a safe, gentle, understanding environment to go to during the good and bad days. Let’s be a light in their world also. We need to stand out to those we meet as one who doesn’t judge but lifts. We need to be women of service and compassion. Let’s light the world with our Christ-like attributes. Imagine what light would exist if each woman, one-by-one, on her own, decided to flip on their brightest light. The darkening world would absolutely glow! There would be an automatic switch. I’ve always said that the mom is the hormones of the home. If we are in a good mood, everyone is in a good mood. If we are grumpy, everyone is grumpy. I realized this while road tripping with my family. We had a 24 hour drive and we were halfway there. The trip had been delightful. Everyone getting along and enjoying our time together. Maybe I was tired? I don’t know, but I took offense from something that was said, and allowed my attitude to change. I was suddenly frustrated and short with everyone. Almost instantly the car became contentious. There was fighting and irritation from everyone. I couldn’t understand what happened and at that point I didn’t care. Soon, I had to go to the restroom–Mark pulled over and I headed to the stalls. While in the restroom, I decided to ask the Lord to help me change my attitude since I wasn’t doing a good job on my own. The walk back the the van was enough time to flip my emotions and I was back to normal. As we finished our drive the calm resumed, happiness filled the car, and we enjoyed each other. I was shocked. I completely controlled the mood of the road trip. This was such a realization for me. Moms, we are the hormones to our families. In a large concentrated form we could be the hormones of the world. If we could come together and be courageous, God-fearing, kind, and valiant, we would find that the whole world would make a shift towards the light. Since it’s really hard to get all women on board, we can start with ourselves and spread light as far as our illumination will shine. There’s no better place to glow then in the home. Our children are our most important job here on earth.
Latter-day Saint women understand that being a mother is their highest priority, their ultimate joy. (Dallin H. Oaks)
My dad told me a story about a manager at Chick-Fil-A. One day he came into work and didn’t say “Hi” to anyone. One of the employees called him out, asking him why he hadn’t said hi. He said he was so busy with lots of things to do. The other manager said,”You walked right past your main job” that’s the same with us. Don’t let the business of life allow you to pass up your most important job!
“Women for the most part see their greatest fulfillment, their greatest happiness in home and family. God planted within women something divine that expresses itself in quiet strength, in refinement, in peace, in goodness, in virtue, in truth, in love. And all of these remarkable qualities find their truest and most satisfying expression in motherhood.”
The greatest job that any woman will ever do will be in nurturing and teaching and living and encouraging and rearing her children in righteousness and truth. There is no other thing that will compare with that, regardless of what she does.” -Gordon B. Hinckley
A happy home is simply a glimpse of heaven, the greatest blessing. I love this story told by Spencer W. Kimball: “Brother Kimball, my wife and I are common people and have never been successful, but we are immensely proud of our family.’ He continued, ‘This is the last of our eight children to come into this holy house for temple marriage. They, with their companions, are here to participate in the marriage of this, the youngest. This is our supremely happy day, with all of our eight children married properly. They are faithful to the Lord in church service, and the older ones are already rearing families in righteousness.’
“I looked at his calloused hands, his rough exterior, and thought to myself, ‘Here is a real son of God fulfilling his destiny.’
“‘Success?’ I said, as I grasped his hand. ‘That is the greatest success story I have heard. You might have accumulated millions in stocks and bonds, bank accounts, lands, industries, and still be quite a failure. You are fulfilling the purpose for which you were sent into this world by keeping your own lives righteous, bearing and rearing this great posterity, and training them in faith and works. Why, my dear folks, you are eminently successful. God bless you.’”
Success comes from God not from money. Success comes from understanding eternity not surviving mortality. Success lies within each of us as we do all that we have been called to do. Success is guaranteed through tapping into the power of the Atonement.
“Happiness in Family Life: is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.” ~ The Family: A Proclamation to the World ~
Here’s three kinds of women that Russell M. Nelson tells we should strive to be.
-The kingdom of God is not and cannot be complete without women who make sacred covenants and then keep them, women who can speak with the power and authority of God.
-Today, … we need women who know how to make important things happen by their faith and who are courageous defenders of morality and families in a sin-sick world
-We need women who are devoted to shepherding God’s children along the covenant path toward exaltation; women who know how to receive personal revelation, who understand the power and peace of the temple endowment; women who know how to call upon the powers of heaven to protect and strengthen children and families; women who teach fearlessly.
We need to keep our covenants with the Lord. We need to have a strong testimony of our own, where we will be able to spark up with gentle strength and power for God. We need to be prayerful in our daily lives so that we are able to be guided in the callings and situations we face. The Holy Ghost will help us know how to handle a situation that appears impossible or difficult. We need to teach morality in a world that is numbing the senses of our youth. We need to fight for morality in our communities who are also sliding with the virtues of the world. We need to live morally clean lives without excuse or justification. We need to be courageous and fearless in our devotion to the Lord’s way. The shift will continue to widen, but with diligence, patience and perseverance we can guide those who will listen to the path of eternal life.
“Our world needs your goodness and love. Be kind to one another. Jesus taught us to love one another and to treat others as we want to be treated. As we strive to be kind, we draw closer to Him and His loving influence”. -Dallin H. Oaks
Mothers, are we quieting the bully spirit in our children or are we fueling the flame? Our children live in an unkind world. Kindness is unique and different. When we have the middle school kids over, I am always shocked at how rude they are to their own friends! If they treat those they like this way, how do they treat those they don’t like? I strongly believe that we teach social skills. Our children are paying attention to how we talk about others. How we talk to those we love, and how we address those we don’t like. They have unseen antennas, that are picking up everything we do. We must teach them through word and action to be kind to others. Kindness is the essence of Christ, it takes kindness to love others. It takes kindness to be patient. It takes kindness to serve and minister. It takes kindness to understand and be compassionate. We must be kind. If you can only improve on one thing right now, start with being kind. You will be amazed at what other areas in your life improve.
Put on therefore, as the elect of God, … bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
“Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another … : even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.” -Colossians 3:12-13
Here is the full version:https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2018/10/media/session_3_talk_8/5845434329001?lang=eng
-Sherri Jorgensen
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