The house that we live in does not make a home. We can live in the mansion on the hill or in the little mud hut in the valley, it makes no difference what the structure of our home is, what really counts is the love that is felt.
Home IS Where the Heart Is
What kind of heart do you have in your home?
Is it a soft pliable heart one that expresses love? Is your home a place where you feel safe – secure – Where the Spirit can dwell? Is your heart a humble heart willing to listen and obey the promptings of the Spirit?
Or do you feel a hard heart, is it unmovable, is it a place where things are dealt with harshness – firmness – where agency is taken away?
Is there joy felt in your home how about peace and happiness?
Joseph Smith said
“Happiness is the object and design of our existence; and will be the end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it;
And this path is VIRTUE, UPRIGHTNESS, FAITHFULNESSs, HOLINESS, and KEEPING THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD.
As we learn to live these principles we will have happiness in our lives and in our homes.
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Friday, October 1, 2010
Journal Keeping
What a beautiful day we are having today here in Minnesota on the first day of October. I went for a walk and didn't even need a sweater. It was wonderful.
On my walk I listened to 1st Nephi (The Book of Mormon) and there were so many things that were going through my mind as I listened to all that happened to Lehi in those first 8 chapters. I wish that we had all of Lehi’s writings but I am so grateful for Nephi and the chapters that he did share with us.
Applying this to my own life I thought how sad that I have not kept a journal to share with my posterity. I have failed them in one more area and I am so sorry. I always thought that my life was not that important. Things that were happening were just every day experiences only pertaining to me. Then, there are things that I didn’t think I would ever forget and now my memory has faded and those times will be gone. I have forgotten so many things that are dear to me, so many experiences with family and friends. Maybe they wouldn’t mean anything to anyone else but again maybe they would touch someone’s life and help them in a time of need, I will never know.
I have notebooks filled with notes from talks and my thoughts about them and I have written down a few experience but they are scattered everywhere. I have this blog where I share things that are important to me. But maybe, after this experience today I will do better; maybe as I live the last years of my life I will remember and keep a journal and try to remember those things that are most important to me to leave for my family. I hope that I will make the time to do this and maybe someone that reads this will realize how important a journal is and will start their own.
On my walk I listened to 1st Nephi (The Book of Mormon) and there were so many things that were going through my mind as I listened to all that happened to Lehi in those first 8 chapters. I wish that we had all of Lehi’s writings but I am so grateful for Nephi and the chapters that he did share with us.
Applying this to my own life I thought how sad that I have not kept a journal to share with my posterity. I have failed them in one more area and I am so sorry. I always thought that my life was not that important. Things that were happening were just every day experiences only pertaining to me. Then, there are things that I didn’t think I would ever forget and now my memory has faded and those times will be gone. I have forgotten so many things that are dear to me, so many experiences with family and friends. Maybe they wouldn’t mean anything to anyone else but again maybe they would touch someone’s life and help them in a time of need, I will never know.
I have notebooks filled with notes from talks and my thoughts about them and I have written down a few experience but they are scattered everywhere. I have this blog where I share things that are important to me. But maybe, after this experience today I will do better; maybe as I live the last years of my life I will remember and keep a journal and try to remember those things that are most important to me to leave for my family. I hope that I will make the time to do this and maybe someone that reads this will realize how important a journal is and will start their own.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Forever Families
“President Brigham Young explained that our families are not yet ours. The Lord has committed them to us to see how we will treat them. Only if we are faithful will they be given to us forever. What we do on earth determines whether or not we will be worthy to become heavenly parents.”
Cheryl C Lent released Primary General President (That Our Children Might See the Face of the Savior
It is our sacred responsibility as parents and leaders of this rising generation of children to bring them to the Savior so that they might see His face and the face of our Father in Heaven as well. As we do so, we also bring ourselves.
Elder L. Tom Perry
We see so many challenges today from distracting and destructive influences intended to mislead God’s children. We are seeing many young people who lack the deep spiritual roots necessary to remain standing in faith as storms of unbelief and despair swirl around them. Too many of our Father in Heaven’s children are being overcome by worldly desires. The onslaught of wickedness against our children is at once more subtle and more brazen than it has ever been. Teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ in the home adds another layer of insulation to protect our children from worldly influences. ( Mothers Teaching Children in the Home)
What do you see that is the most distracting and destructive influences that are pulling our children away?
What can we do to stop the onslaught of wickedness today?
Elder Joseph Fielding Smith taught: “It is the duty of parents to teach their children these saving principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ, so that they will know why they are to be baptized and that they may be impressed in their hearts with a desire to continue to keep the commandments of God after they are baptized, that they may come back into his presence. Do you, my good brethren and sisters, want your families, your children; do you want to be sealed to your fathers and your mothers before you . . . ? If so, then you must begin by teaching at the cradle-side. You are to teach by example as well as precept” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1948, 153).
Our focus must always be on the temple …….
President Henry B Eyring (Help Them on Their Way)
“Our most important and powerful assignments are in the family. They are important because the family has the opportunity at the start of a child’s life to put feet firmly on the path home. Parents, brothers and sisters, grandparents, aunts and uncles are made more powerful guides and rescuers by the bonds of love that are the very nature of a family.
The family has an advantage in the first eight years of a child’s life. In those protected years, because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, Satan’s use of the mists of darkness to hide the path to return home is blocked.
If the children are strengthened with faith and testimony, they will be less likely to need rescue as teenagers. They realize that a strong spiritual foundation can make the difference for a lifetime.
So we have been told how important it is that we start when our children are young.
What happens if our children are pre teens, teens, YA, married with a family of their own and they are being overcome by worldly desires?
Is it too late for them? What can we do to help?
If we are wise, we will encourage, praise, and exemplify everything which invites the companionship of the Holy Ghost. When they share with us what they are doing and feeling, we must ourselves have qualified for the Spirit. Then they will feel in our praise and our smiles the approval of God. And should we feel the need to give corrective counsel, they will feel our love and the love of God in it, not rebuke and rejection, which can permit Satan to lead them further away.” ( President Henry B. Eyring)
We dear sister must have a broken heart and a desire to change not only for yourself but to make a difference in our homes. From the Family: A Proclamation to the World ( The inspired document “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” states:
“Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. ‘Children are an heritage of the Lord’ (Psalm 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. . . .
“ . . . By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children
We must be humble in order to make the changes needed for us and for our families
Then we will be strengthened by the Atonement –
we will receive the comfort, encouragement of the Holy Ghost, and we will be taught and guided by the Holy Spirit.
Elder Russell M. Nelson
Etched in sacred scripture is a commandment to “set in order thy house.” Once we as parents understand the importance and meaning of that commandment, we then need to learn how to do it.
How do we set in order our homes?
What do we do to bring light and truth into our homes?
“We need to exemplify in our own lives the steady and prolonged faithfulness that the Lord expects of them. As we do, we will help them feel from the Spirit an assurance that if they will persist, they will hear the words from a loving Savior and Heavenly Father: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”4 And we who help them along the way will hear those words with joy” .( President Henry B Eyring)
We must do what we want our children to do
We must be what we want our children to be
So we can become what we need to become
Worthy to return to Him as an eternal family.
"I promise each of you, as you follow inspired direction in this, the true Church of Jesus Christ, that our youth and we who help and love them can be delivered safely to our home with Heavenly Father and the Savior to live in families and in joy forever". .( President Henry B Eyring)
Cheryl C Lent released Primary General President (That Our Children Might See the Face of the Savior
It is our sacred responsibility as parents and leaders of this rising generation of children to bring them to the Savior so that they might see His face and the face of our Father in Heaven as well. As we do so, we also bring ourselves.
Elder L. Tom Perry
We see so many challenges today from distracting and destructive influences intended to mislead God’s children. We are seeing many young people who lack the deep spiritual roots necessary to remain standing in faith as storms of unbelief and despair swirl around them. Too many of our Father in Heaven’s children are being overcome by worldly desires. The onslaught of wickedness against our children is at once more subtle and more brazen than it has ever been. Teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ in the home adds another layer of insulation to protect our children from worldly influences. ( Mothers Teaching Children in the Home)
What do you see that is the most distracting and destructive influences that are pulling our children away?
What can we do to stop the onslaught of wickedness today?
Elder Joseph Fielding Smith taught: “It is the duty of parents to teach their children these saving principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ, so that they will know why they are to be baptized and that they may be impressed in their hearts with a desire to continue to keep the commandments of God after they are baptized, that they may come back into his presence. Do you, my good brethren and sisters, want your families, your children; do you want to be sealed to your fathers and your mothers before you . . . ? If so, then you must begin by teaching at the cradle-side. You are to teach by example as well as precept” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1948, 153).
Our focus must always be on the temple …….
President Henry B Eyring (Help Them on Their Way)
“Our most important and powerful assignments are in the family. They are important because the family has the opportunity at the start of a child’s life to put feet firmly on the path home. Parents, brothers and sisters, grandparents, aunts and uncles are made more powerful guides and rescuers by the bonds of love that are the very nature of a family.
The family has an advantage in the first eight years of a child’s life. In those protected years, because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, Satan’s use of the mists of darkness to hide the path to return home is blocked.
If the children are strengthened with faith and testimony, they will be less likely to need rescue as teenagers. They realize that a strong spiritual foundation can make the difference for a lifetime.
So we have been told how important it is that we start when our children are young.
What happens if our children are pre teens, teens, YA, married with a family of their own and they are being overcome by worldly desires?
Is it too late for them? What can we do to help?
If we are wise, we will encourage, praise, and exemplify everything which invites the companionship of the Holy Ghost. When they share with us what they are doing and feeling, we must ourselves have qualified for the Spirit. Then they will feel in our praise and our smiles the approval of God. And should we feel the need to give corrective counsel, they will feel our love and the love of God in it, not rebuke and rejection, which can permit Satan to lead them further away.” ( President Henry B. Eyring)
We dear sister must have a broken heart and a desire to change not only for yourself but to make a difference in our homes. From the Family: A Proclamation to the World ( The inspired document “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” states:
“Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. ‘Children are an heritage of the Lord’ (Psalm 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. . . .
“ . . . By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children
We must be humble in order to make the changes needed for us and for our families
Then we will be strengthened by the Atonement –
we will receive the comfort, encouragement of the Holy Ghost, and we will be taught and guided by the Holy Spirit.
Elder Russell M. Nelson
Etched in sacred scripture is a commandment to “set in order thy house.” Once we as parents understand the importance and meaning of that commandment, we then need to learn how to do it.
How do we set in order our homes?
What do we do to bring light and truth into our homes?
“We need to exemplify in our own lives the steady and prolonged faithfulness that the Lord expects of them. As we do, we will help them feel from the Spirit an assurance that if they will persist, they will hear the words from a loving Savior and Heavenly Father: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”4 And we who help them along the way will hear those words with joy” .( President Henry B Eyring)
We must do what we want our children to do
We must be what we want our children to be
So we can become what we need to become
Worthy to return to Him as an eternal family.
"I promise each of you, as you follow inspired direction in this, the true Church of Jesus Christ, that our youth and we who help and love them can be delivered safely to our home with Heavenly Father and the Savior to live in families and in joy forever". .( President Henry B Eyring)
Sunday, January 31, 2010
House of Order
The Great Symbol of Our Membership
Howard W. Hunter
This counsel is still applicable: “Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God” (D&C 88:119). No wonder He has said that in His holy house, “I will manifest myself to my people in mercy” (D&C 110:7).
Gospel Library > Magazines > Ensign > October 1994
As we take a minute and look at our own lives and homes what do we need to change to make our homes a house of order? We can have pictures of the Savior and the temples throughout our homes; we can display our scriptures and church magazines in prominent places in our homes. We can even have clean and beautiful homes but is that what makes our home a house of order?
Our first and foremost responsibility in our home is to bring our children back to God. If there is not a spirit of love and compassion for each other in our home it is not a house of order. We need to help our family members feel, know and understand the divine within us. All that we do in the home should allow the Spirit to dwell within its walls.
Do we allow too much of the world to enter into our homes? We have to go out into the world but we do not have to be of the world and we must do everything we can to keep the negative influences out of our homes. Our family needs a safe haven they can come into where love is expressed and the Spirit felt. They need a place where they can grow in knowledge and wisdom so they will have the strength, courage and power to stand firm at all times and in all places.
What can we do to make our homes a house of order?
Howard W. Hunter
This counsel is still applicable: “Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God” (D&C 88:119). No wonder He has said that in His holy house, “I will manifest myself to my people in mercy” (D&C 110:7).
Gospel Library > Magazines > Ensign > October 1994
As we take a minute and look at our own lives and homes what do we need to change to make our homes a house of order? We can have pictures of the Savior and the temples throughout our homes; we can display our scriptures and church magazines in prominent places in our homes. We can even have clean and beautiful homes but is that what makes our home a house of order?
Our first and foremost responsibility in our home is to bring our children back to God. If there is not a spirit of love and compassion for each other in our home it is not a house of order. We need to help our family members feel, know and understand the divine within us. All that we do in the home should allow the Spirit to dwell within its walls.
Do we allow too much of the world to enter into our homes? We have to go out into the world but we do not have to be of the world and we must do everything we can to keep the negative influences out of our homes. Our family needs a safe haven they can come into where love is expressed and the Spirit felt. They need a place where they can grow in knowledge and wisdom so they will have the strength, courage and power to stand firm at all times and in all places.
What can we do to make our homes a house of order?
Monday, January 18, 2010
We are never alone!
In our darkest hours as we face our trials, heartache, and pain we almost always feel like we are in it alone. Even just everyday living, trying to get through the day is more than we can handle. Often times there are not enough hours in the day to do all that needs to be done or enough money to get us through to the next pay check. Our burdens and responsibilities seem harder than we can bear.
I have been struggling for a few months, neglecting the spiritual things that I should be doing because I have felt heavy burdens of everyday living and have not used my time wisely. I have started reading my scriptures again and studying the conference talks. In my studies I came across this talk by Elder Jeffery R. Holland from April 2009 conference. It made a huge impact on me. It is a review of the last days of our Saviors life and well worth the review.
None Were With Him
I now realize once again that I am never alone. That in Gethsemane and on the cross at Calvary the Lord felt everything that I feel. He knows through experience every sin and weakness that I have, he knows it and has paid the price to ransom me. He felt abandoned and alone as The Father withdrew, crying in ultimate loneliness, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” After all was fulfilled and with complete faith in The Father and complete obedience He finally said, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.”
Jesus was completely alone at that point, he felt the withdrawal of His Father, and he felt it and knows it. But, we will never have to be alone for we are blessed with the constant companionship of the Holy Spirit to lead us, guide us, lift us, teach us, and comfort us in all things and at all times. We have the gospel of Jesus Christ and all who are called as leaders in this great organization. We have sisters and brothers both, in our family and in our ward family, to stand literally by our side as we need them. No, we are never alone; we are loved more than we can comprehend. All we have to do is ask.
I have been struggling for a few months, neglecting the spiritual things that I should be doing because I have felt heavy burdens of everyday living and have not used my time wisely. I have started reading my scriptures again and studying the conference talks. In my studies I came across this talk by Elder Jeffery R. Holland from April 2009 conference. It made a huge impact on me. It is a review of the last days of our Saviors life and well worth the review.
None Were With Him
I now realize once again that I am never alone. That in Gethsemane and on the cross at Calvary the Lord felt everything that I feel. He knows through experience every sin and weakness that I have, he knows it and has paid the price to ransom me. He felt abandoned and alone as The Father withdrew, crying in ultimate loneliness, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” After all was fulfilled and with complete faith in The Father and complete obedience He finally said, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.”
Jesus was completely alone at that point, he felt the withdrawal of His Father, and he felt it and knows it. But, we will never have to be alone for we are blessed with the constant companionship of the Holy Spirit to lead us, guide us, lift us, teach us, and comfort us in all things and at all times. We have the gospel of Jesus Christ and all who are called as leaders in this great organization. We have sisters and brothers both, in our family and in our ward family, to stand literally by our side as we need them. No, we are never alone; we are loved more than we can comprehend. All we have to do is ask.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Preservation of the Family
Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley
In 1966, BYU Commencement address he said, The preservation of the family will be one of the great and serious challenges facing you in the future into which you come.
The family is under attack. All across the world families are falling apart. The place to begin to improve society is in the home.
If you want to reform a nation, you begin with families
No nation is stronger than the homes of its people.
The family is divine. It was instituted by our Heavenly Father. It encompasses the most sacred of all relationships. Only through its organization can the purposes of the Lord be fulfilled.
I am satisfied that nothing will assure greater success in the hazardous undertaking of parenthood than a program of (4) family life that comes from the marvelous teaching of the gospel; that the father of the home may be clothed with the priesthood of God; that it is his privilege and obligation as a steward of our Heavenly Father’s children to provide for their needs; that he is to govern in the home in the spirit of the priesthood ‘by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; (D&C 121:41-42);
And that mothers in the home is a daughter of God, a soul of intelligence, devotion, and love who may be clothed with the Spirit of God; that it is her privilege and obligation as a steward of our Heavenly Father’s children to nurture those children in their daily needs; that she, in companionship with her husband, is also to teach her children to ‘understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands… and to pray, and to walk uprightly before the Lord.” (D&C 68: 25, 28)
In such a home, parents are loved and not dreaded’ they are appreciated and not feared. And children are regarded as gifts of the Lord, to be cared for, nurtured, encouraged, and directed.
(Pillars of Truth, “ Ensign, Jan 1994).
The primary place in building a value system is in the home
The home is the seedbed of all true virtue. If proper values are not learned in the home, they are not likely to be learned anywhere…
The family is the basic element of society. Good homes become the foundation for the strength of any nation.
Continually he says
I plead with you to put harshness behind us, to bridle our anger, to lower our voices, and to deal with mercy and love and respect one toward another in our homes. There is no discipline in all the world like the discipline of love. It has a magic all its own.
There is too much selfishness
There is too much of worldliness in our homes”
In 1966, BYU Commencement address he said, The preservation of the family will be one of the great and serious challenges facing you in the future into which you come.
The family is under attack. All across the world families are falling apart. The place to begin to improve society is in the home.
If you want to reform a nation, you begin with families
No nation is stronger than the homes of its people.
The family is divine. It was instituted by our Heavenly Father. It encompasses the most sacred of all relationships. Only through its organization can the purposes of the Lord be fulfilled.
I am satisfied that nothing will assure greater success in the hazardous undertaking of parenthood than a program of (4) family life that comes from the marvelous teaching of the gospel; that the father of the home may be clothed with the priesthood of God; that it is his privilege and obligation as a steward of our Heavenly Father’s children to provide for their needs; that he is to govern in the home in the spirit of the priesthood ‘by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; (D&C 121:41-42);
And that mothers in the home is a daughter of God, a soul of intelligence, devotion, and love who may be clothed with the Spirit of God; that it is her privilege and obligation as a steward of our Heavenly Father’s children to nurture those children in their daily needs; that she, in companionship with her husband, is also to teach her children to ‘understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands… and to pray, and to walk uprightly before the Lord.” (D&C 68: 25, 28)
In such a home, parents are loved and not dreaded’ they are appreciated and not feared. And children are regarded as gifts of the Lord, to be cared for, nurtured, encouraged, and directed.
(Pillars of Truth, “ Ensign, Jan 1994).
The primary place in building a value system is in the home
The home is the seedbed of all true virtue. If proper values are not learned in the home, they are not likely to be learned anywhere…
The family is the basic element of society. Good homes become the foundation for the strength of any nation.
Continually he says
I plead with you to put harshness behind us, to bridle our anger, to lower our voices, and to deal with mercy and love and respect one toward another in our homes. There is no discipline in all the world like the discipline of love. It has a magic all its own.
There is too much selfishness
There is too much of worldliness in our homes”
Protect out homes
SHIRLEY R. KLEIN
“Only the home can compare with the temple in sacredness.” If our homes compare to the temple, what is it about the home that makes it sacred ? The dictionary meaning of “sacred”: “belonging to or dedicated to God; worthy of reverence; set apart for or dedicated to some person, object, or purpose; that [which] must not be violated or disregarded; properly immune, as from violence or interference.”
As you develop spiritual strength through everyday activities in your home, you are building strong timbers and pickets to protect your homes. In the Doctrine and Covenants we read that God has only given us spiritual commandments and that none of them are temporal (see D&C 29:35). If God’s commandments are not temporal, that means they are not limited to this life: His commandments are everlasting. We can apply this to our homes by realizing that all our actions on earth have consequences. The things we do on earth shape the person we become now and in the life to come. Thus the earthly patterns of living we create in our homes have power to influence our spiritual outcomes. Spouses can “love and care for each other and for their children” and foster development of characteristics to prepare them for eternity.
“Only the home can compare with the temple in sacredness.” If our homes compare to the temple, what is it about the home that makes it sacred ? The dictionary meaning of “sacred”: “belonging to or dedicated to God; worthy of reverence; set apart for or dedicated to some person, object, or purpose; that [which] must not be violated or disregarded; properly immune, as from violence or interference.”
As you develop spiritual strength through everyday activities in your home, you are building strong timbers and pickets to protect your homes. In the Doctrine and Covenants we read that God has only given us spiritual commandments and that none of them are temporal (see D&C 29:35). If God’s commandments are not temporal, that means they are not limited to this life: His commandments are everlasting. We can apply this to our homes by realizing that all our actions on earth have consequences. The things we do on earth shape the person we become now and in the life to come. Thus the earthly patterns of living we create in our homes have power to influence our spiritual outcomes. Spouses can “love and care for each other and for their children” and foster development of characteristics to prepare them for eternity.
Home, a refuge from the storm
Elder L. Tom Perry:
“We need to make our homes a place of refuge from the storm. . . . Even if the smallest openings are left unattended, negative influences can penetrate the very walls of our homes.
President Spencer W. Kimball said 25 years ago
“Many of the social restraints which in the past have helped to reinforce and to shore up the family are dissolving and disappearing. The time will come when only those who believe deeply and actively in the family will be able to preserve their families in the midst of the gathering evil around us.7
The battle for your homes is real. To preserve your family you will need to believe deeply and actively in family life in the home and take action.”
“We need to make our homes a place of refuge from the storm. . . . Even if the smallest openings are left unattended, negative influences can penetrate the very walls of our homes.
President Spencer W. Kimball said 25 years ago
“Many of the social restraints which in the past have helped to reinforce and to shore up the family are dissolving and disappearing. The time will come when only those who believe deeply and actively in the family will be able to preserve their families in the midst of the gathering evil around us.7
The battle for your homes is real. To preserve your family you will need to believe deeply and actively in family life in the home and take action.”
Home
Home is where we preside. It doesn’t’ matter what it is, how expensive or how humble it is, what matters is what is going on within its walls.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Importance of home and family
Gods work is to bring to pass immortality and eternal life of man.
Our work is to know and understand and act upon every needful thing to return home to our loving Heavenly Parents.
We must know and understand the importance of Home and Family
Home is where we preside. It doesn’t’ matter what it is, how expensive or how humble it is, what matters is what is going on within its walls.
Elder L. Tom Perry reminds us:
We need to make our homes a place of refuge from the storm. . . . Even if the smallest openings are left unattended, negative influences can penetrate the very walls of our homes.
In general conference 25 years ago, President Spencer W. Kimball warned:
Many of the social restraints which in the past have helped to reinforce and to shore up the family are dissolving and disappearing. The time will come when only those who believe deeply and actively in the family will be able to preserve their families in the midst of the gathering evil around us.
The battle for your homes is real. To preserve your family you will need to believe deeply and actively in family life in the home and take action.
Protect Our Homes,
Renew Our Powers
SHIRLEY R. KLEIN
“Only the home can compare with the temple in sacredness.”10 If our homes compare to the temple, what is it about the home that makes it sacred? Listen to the dictionary meaning of “sacred”: “belonging to or dedicated to God; worthy of reverence; set apart for or dedicated to some person, object, or purpose; that [which] must not be violated or disregarded; properly immune, as from violence or interference.”
As you develop spiritual strength through everyday activities in your home, you are building strong timbers and pickets to protect your homes. In the Doctrine and Covenants we read that God has only given us spiritual commandments and that none of them are temporal (see D&C 29:35). If God’s commandments are not temporal, that means they are not limited to this life: His commandments are everlasting. We can apply this to our homes by realizing that all our actions on earth have consequences. The things we do on earth shape the person we become now and in the life to come. Thus the earthly patterns of living we create in our homes have power to influence our spiritual outcomes. Spouses can “love and care for each other and for their children”21 and foster development of characteristics to prepare them for eternity.
Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley
In 1966, BYU Commencement address he said, The preservation of the family will be one of the great and serious challenges facing you in the future into which you come.
The family is under attack. All across the world families are falling apart. The place to begin to improve society is in the home.
If you want to reform a nation, you begin with families
No nation is stronger than the homes of its people.
The family is divine. It was instituted by our Heavenly Father. It encompasses the most sacred of all relationships. Only through its organization can the purposes of the Lord be fulfilled.
I am satisfied that nothing will assure greater success in the hazardous undertaking of parenthood than a program of family life that comes from the marvelous teaching of the gospel; that the father of the home may be clothed with the priesthood of God; that it is his privilege and obligation as a steward of our Heavenly Father’s children to provide for their needs; that he is to govern in the home in the spirit of the priesthood ‘by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; (D&C 121:41-42);
And that mothers in the home is a daughter of God, a soul of intelligence, devotion, and love who may be clothed with the Spirit of God; that it is her privilege and obligation as a steward of our Heavenly Father’s children to nurture those children in their daily needs; that she, in companionship with her husband, is also to teach her children to ‘understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands… and to pray, and to walk uprightly before the Lord.” (D&C 68: 25, 28)
In such a home, parents are loved and not dreaded’ they are appreciated and not feared. And children are regarded as gifts of the Lord, to be cared for, nurtured, encouraged, and directed.
(Pillars of Truth, “ Ensign, Jan 1994).
The primary place in building a value system is in the home
The home is the seedbed of all true virtue. If proper values are not learned in the home, they are not likely to be learned anywhere…
The family is the basic element of society. Good homes become the foundation for the strength of any nation.
Continually he says
I plead with you to put harshness behind us, to bridle our anger, to lower our voices, and to deal with mercy and love and respect one toward another in our homes. There is no discipline in all the world like the discipline of love. It has a magic all its own.
There is too much selfishness
There is too much of worldliness in our homes
If there is less trouble in the homes, there will be less trouble in the nations.
In the family proclamation
“By divine design mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children
We have divine responsibilities to nurture our children.
What does nurturing look, feel and sound like? (D&C 121:41-42)
Our work is to know and understand and act upon every needful thing to return home to our loving Heavenly Parents.
We must know and understand the importance of Home and Family
Home is where we preside. It doesn’t’ matter what it is, how expensive or how humble it is, what matters is what is going on within its walls.
Elder L. Tom Perry reminds us:
We need to make our homes a place of refuge from the storm. . . . Even if the smallest openings are left unattended, negative influences can penetrate the very walls of our homes.
In general conference 25 years ago, President Spencer W. Kimball warned:
Many of the social restraints which in the past have helped to reinforce and to shore up the family are dissolving and disappearing. The time will come when only those who believe deeply and actively in the family will be able to preserve their families in the midst of the gathering evil around us.
The battle for your homes is real. To preserve your family you will need to believe deeply and actively in family life in the home and take action.
Protect Our Homes,
Renew Our Powers
SHIRLEY R. KLEIN
“Only the home can compare with the temple in sacredness.”10 If our homes compare to the temple, what is it about the home that makes it sacred? Listen to the dictionary meaning of “sacred”: “belonging to or dedicated to God; worthy of reverence; set apart for or dedicated to some person, object, or purpose; that [which] must not be violated or disregarded; properly immune, as from violence or interference.”
As you develop spiritual strength through everyday activities in your home, you are building strong timbers and pickets to protect your homes. In the Doctrine and Covenants we read that God has only given us spiritual commandments and that none of them are temporal (see D&C 29:35). If God’s commandments are not temporal, that means they are not limited to this life: His commandments are everlasting. We can apply this to our homes by realizing that all our actions on earth have consequences. The things we do on earth shape the person we become now and in the life to come. Thus the earthly patterns of living we create in our homes have power to influence our spiritual outcomes. Spouses can “love and care for each other and for their children”21 and foster development of characteristics to prepare them for eternity.
Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley
In 1966, BYU Commencement address he said, The preservation of the family will be one of the great and serious challenges facing you in the future into which you come.
The family is under attack. All across the world families are falling apart. The place to begin to improve society is in the home.
If you want to reform a nation, you begin with families
No nation is stronger than the homes of its people.
The family is divine. It was instituted by our Heavenly Father. It encompasses the most sacred of all relationships. Only through its organization can the purposes of the Lord be fulfilled.
I am satisfied that nothing will assure greater success in the hazardous undertaking of parenthood than a program of family life that comes from the marvelous teaching of the gospel; that the father of the home may be clothed with the priesthood of God; that it is his privilege and obligation as a steward of our Heavenly Father’s children to provide for their needs; that he is to govern in the home in the spirit of the priesthood ‘by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; (D&C 121:41-42);
And that mothers in the home is a daughter of God, a soul of intelligence, devotion, and love who may be clothed with the Spirit of God; that it is her privilege and obligation as a steward of our Heavenly Father’s children to nurture those children in their daily needs; that she, in companionship with her husband, is also to teach her children to ‘understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands… and to pray, and to walk uprightly before the Lord.” (D&C 68: 25, 28)
In such a home, parents are loved and not dreaded’ they are appreciated and not feared. And children are regarded as gifts of the Lord, to be cared for, nurtured, encouraged, and directed.
(Pillars of Truth, “ Ensign, Jan 1994).
The primary place in building a value system is in the home
The home is the seedbed of all true virtue. If proper values are not learned in the home, they are not likely to be learned anywhere…
The family is the basic element of society. Good homes become the foundation for the strength of any nation.
Continually he says
I plead with you to put harshness behind us, to bridle our anger, to lower our voices, and to deal with mercy and love and respect one toward another in our homes. There is no discipline in all the world like the discipline of love. It has a magic all its own.
There is too much selfishness
There is too much of worldliness in our homes
If there is less trouble in the homes, there will be less trouble in the nations.
In the family proclamation
“By divine design mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children
We have divine responsibilities to nurture our children.
What does nurturing look, feel and sound like? (D&C 121:41-42)
Friday, February 6, 2009
Expressing love to those you care about
My daughter just called me to offer a prayer in her behalf. As a Relief Society Counselor in her ward she and the RS Presidency are meeting with a sister in their ward who just lost her husband in a car accident. They have only been married 3 months and just recently moved away from family. So she is in a new area with no family and the grief and fear that she is facing and doing it all alone. What a responsibility they have to let her know that she is not alone. That she is loved by sisters that care. My heart aches for her and I don’t even know her. I care and she doesn’t know that I do. All I can do is pray for her and I have done that.
This has given me the opportunity to stop and think about those that are dear to me. How am I treating them, do I let them know not only by what I say but also my actions and body language that I love them. Am I letting them know that they are the most important part of my life? Do I let my husband go out the door in the morning not knowing how much I care for him and about him? Do I express my gratitude to him for how hard he works and all that he does for me? After over 40 years of marriage you would think that I would have everything perfect but I sometimes take to many things for granted. I for one am going to make some changes. I am going to make sure my husband knows how very dear he is to me and how much I love him, after all eternity is a very long time.
We have been told to keep a gratitude journal, to offer prayers of gratitude to our Savior for all we have been blessed with. Maybe we should figure out ways to let those we love know that we love them and that they are such an important part of our lives. We need to do that every single day.
This is the month of love, the celebration of Valentine’s Day. I hope that you all find ways to express love and appreciation for those you care about.
This has given me the opportunity to stop and think about those that are dear to me. How am I treating them, do I let them know not only by what I say but also my actions and body language that I love them. Am I letting them know that they are the most important part of my life? Do I let my husband go out the door in the morning not knowing how much I care for him and about him? Do I express my gratitude to him for how hard he works and all that he does for me? After over 40 years of marriage you would think that I would have everything perfect but I sometimes take to many things for granted. I for one am going to make some changes. I am going to make sure my husband knows how very dear he is to me and how much I love him, after all eternity is a very long time.
We have been told to keep a gratitude journal, to offer prayers of gratitude to our Savior for all we have been blessed with. Maybe we should figure out ways to let those we love know that we love them and that they are such an important part of our lives. We need to do that every single day.
This is the month of love, the celebration of Valentine’s Day. I hope that you all find ways to express love and appreciation for those you care about.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
We are family
This is the poem I wrote to share for our family home evening lesson
We are family
Our lives are intertwined,
Brought together on the earth
as one in heart and mind.
Through life’s long journey
There will be trials and pain,
We will feel heart ache and sorrow
But, true knowledge must be gained.
We must cherish one another
Have the pure love of Christ,
As we serve and lift each other
Throughout our mortal live.
Watch over one another
With concerning heartfelt care
Your are so very important
Constantly in our daily prayers.
Comfort one another
When the journey is too much
Encircling all in loving arm
Giving strength from gentle touch.
Gaining instruction from family
Is something we all need,
Watching and observing the example
Helps to plant the eternal seed.
We are family
And our deepest heart’s desire,
Is to sit down in heaven together
United in love through Priesthood power.
We are family
Our lives are intertwined,
Brought together on the earth
as one in heart and mind.
Through life’s long journey
There will be trials and pain,
We will feel heart ache and sorrow
But, true knowledge must be gained.
We must cherish one another
Have the pure love of Christ,
As we serve and lift each other
Throughout our mortal live.
Watch over one another
With concerning heartfelt care
Your are so very important
Constantly in our daily prayers.
Comfort one another
When the journey is too much
Encircling all in loving arm
Giving strength from gentle touch.
Gaining instruction from family
Is something we all need,
Watching and observing the example
Helps to plant the eternal seed.
We are family
And our deepest heart’s desire,
Is to sit down in heaven together
United in love through Priesthood power.
Christmas Reunion
What an amazing Christmas celebration we had this year. My daughter, son in law, and family opened up their home in Colorado for us. We had our first ever Christmas with all of our children, 14 adults, 20 grandchildren and 5 dogs. We started arriving on the 20th and the last family to go left on the 28th. So we had eight wonderful days of celebration. My son’s family from Las Vegas was the last to arrive (Tuesday the 23rd). Not because they planned it that way but because of weather. There were many obstacles that tried to keep us from going, isn’t that always the truth, when something is so important Satin tries so hard to stop it. We have memories that we will treasure forever. Cousins that hadn’t seen each other in several years and none of them wanted to leave when the time came.
We had a talent show that was amazing. I didn’t know my family had such great talent. Santa came one night with gifts for everyone. We had a white elephant exchange that was a lot of fun, some crazy gifts. We had a delicious Christmas dinner of turkey, ham and all the trimmings. We had a family home evening lesson on our family motto: ““We must cherish one another, comfort one another, watch over one another, and gain instruction that we may all sit down in heaven together.” The Spirit was so strong as we shared our thought and feelings.
Nothing about our Christmas was traditional. Santa came Christmas morning with stockings brimming over and that was the limit of gifts from Santa. We spent the rest of the morning sharing gifts of the heart. . A quote to put on our wall, “Love at Home” (a childhood memory). Another saying on a glass brick, “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, It’s about learning to dance in the rain.” A special Christmas Ornament with Sly Family Reunion 2008 to always remember this time together. The picture of the Saviors hands with the quote from Isaiah 49:15, “See! I will not forget you… I have carved you on the palm of my hand”. Then we enjoyed a tradition from childhood with a wonderful Christmas brunch.
Games we played: pit, this is a spoon, apples to apples, Christmas bingo, a Christmas song game. We made nativity ornaments for our trees next year, candy necklaces. Everyone played rock band the whole time.
We have videos and pictures galore to help us remember this festive reunion. It will be remembered and treasured in our hearts forever.
We had a talent show that was amazing. I didn’t know my family had such great talent. Santa came one night with gifts for everyone. We had a white elephant exchange that was a lot of fun, some crazy gifts. We had a delicious Christmas dinner of turkey, ham and all the trimmings. We had a family home evening lesson on our family motto: ““We must cherish one another, comfort one another, watch over one another, and gain instruction that we may all sit down in heaven together.” The Spirit was so strong as we shared our thought and feelings.
Nothing about our Christmas was traditional. Santa came Christmas morning with stockings brimming over and that was the limit of gifts from Santa. We spent the rest of the morning sharing gifts of the heart. . A quote to put on our wall, “Love at Home” (a childhood memory). Another saying on a glass brick, “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, It’s about learning to dance in the rain.” A special Christmas Ornament with Sly Family Reunion 2008 to always remember this time together. The picture of the Saviors hands with the quote from Isaiah 49:15, “See! I will not forget you… I have carved you on the palm of my hand”. Then we enjoyed a tradition from childhood with a wonderful Christmas brunch.
Games we played: pit, this is a spoon, apples to apples, Christmas bingo, a Christmas song game. We made nativity ornaments for our trees next year, candy necklaces. Everyone played rock band the whole time.
We have videos and pictures galore to help us remember this festive reunion. It will be remembered and treasured in our hearts forever.
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