It takes a village to raise our children….

Yeah, I’ve reached the end of my course and I will be reporting the results of this blog to my peers next week so this will be my last post. Before I go I wanted to look again at those things we as mothers and fathers are commanded to do in the course of raising our children. I’ll caution you not to be weighed down by the list but rather find it relieving that it can appear to be so simple.

"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."

                If we take a deeper look into this, it’s awesome to see just four concepts for us to teach our children, they must love and serve one-another, observe the commandments of god, and be law abiding citizens. I’d love to hear your thoughts? How do you do this, are there any other lessons that need to be added to this list? If so, why?

Happiness in family life-

These next two weeks I am going to be posting about a specific paragraph in the proclamation we are studying so I thought I would add it here as a reference for each of you:

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. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.

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I wanted to share a thought that jumped out to me this week as I have studied this paragraph. The quote from Psalms says Children are an heritage of the Lord. What an amazing statement! I look at so many proud, longstanding institutions and it’s clear that they are where they are today because they are ever mindful of their own heritage. When I look at the increase in divorce rates, along with so many other issues facing communities around the world, I begin to wonder if we have forgotten our heritage. Have we forgotten our roots? I think so. We have to remember that although our physical bodies are aging at different rates, we are all children of our Heavenly parents; we have a history and a legacy to uphold and to improve upon. Some of our history includes names like Moses, Noah, Elijah, and Adam. With that in mind I gain great strength and encouragement that I can do what is asked of me, and that my family can grow stronger recognizing we are all on a similar path and we should be courteous and assist those around us.

When is enough, enough?

I’m going to open this one up to all of you out there who feel like they would like to comment. After having given birth to my third child, I simply don’t know if I can handle any more children. I see soo many eight member or more families at church on Sunday, and some people seem happy, others, you can easily tell are worn down, and I just don’t see any happiness in their lives. How do you know when to stop having kids?

                Before you go throwing out your thoughts keep in mind we have been commanded to have as many children as possible, with one general authority going as far to say that those spirits deserve to be brought into a Christ-centered home, and by not having them you risk sending them to a family that doesn’t focus on Christ. My dad gave me some a great advice (Thank You Dad!) he said he would rather see me as a good mom to three children, than a bad mom to eight. Everyone has a different limit and you never what yours is until you reach it. So how do you know when you’re there?

The sacred nature of procreation

I find it amazing how women have fought soo hard for equal rights (almost since Adam and Eve) and yet we haven’t seemed to do anything to truly move the dial. As a mother of one young son and two little girls, I find our society to be extremely derogatory when it comes to the treatment or portrayal of women. Let’s take TV as an example, how many TV shows are there that portray a women to be smart on her own, without the assistance of a lead male character, or excessively revealing clothing (Zena)?  I can’t think of any. To make matters worse, many TV shows highlight women abusing the powers of procreation or men tempting women to abandon their innocence.

                This isn’t meant to be a women’s rights posting, because I have to admit that society has done the same thing to men, but I am extremely concerned over what my kids will find as real and true in a society where casual sex is far more casual, and widely accepted. Why can’t we see how this affects our society? How many friends do we have who are single parents? I know we would look at them and say life is hard for them, but think deeper. What got them into this situation?  Is it a personal choice? Sure there is some of that, but it is also outside influence.

                I am so happy that we have been taught to keep television time to a minimum and to tech our kids correct principles. I only hope that enough seeds take root and become firm trees before they leave my care, and face the world full of lumberjacks who are more than willing to climb all over them and use them just to make a buck or two. 

How can we protect our families?

Sometimes when Travis is traveling the safety and security of my family is something that weighs on my mind. This week I’ve been thinking about my children and how their actions will affect my eternal salvation (happiness beyond this life). I find it frustrating that we are given these spirits to raise and develop, but we have little control over their eternal destiny, beyond the seeds I’ve planted. I would say that the first saints to cross the plains had similar thoughts. Imagine stopping and building winter quarters, planting crops, and then leaving. No control over their outcome or enjoying some of the food they worked so hard to get started.

                I find comfort in the understanding that as long as I fulfill those covenants I have made with my Heavenly Father, and I continue to hold sacred those ordinances that I have completed, like baptism and marriage, I will have the ability to see my children in the next life. Can I force them to reach the highest degree of exaltation? No, that was someone else’s plan, but I can be blessed with the chance to see them, and share in their eternal progression. 

                I am so thankful to a Father in Heaven who is just and firm at once, and gives me a way to protect my family in an eternal sense. 

Ordinances and Covenants

Two weeks down, seven more to go! These next two weeks I’ll learning about ordinances and covenants. For those out there who don’t fully understand the concepts here I’ll provide some education this week, and dive into my thoughts and impressions next week.

                Ordinances and Covenants typically go hand in hand. Although my faith believes in these there are many fellow Christians who don’t realize that their faith believes in the same concepts. Let me highlight a few things; ordinances are the physical acts or deeds god requires of us, and covenants are the promises that typically are associated with each ordinance. Although, covenants can be made without an ordinance, I intend to keep it simple this week.

                Let’s take baptism as an example. My church believes that children should be baptized no earlier than eight years old. It has been taught that at eight children are old enough to decipher right from wrong, and as a result they would be able to be held accountable for their choices. No when we are baptized, our sins are washed away and we are clean. At this moment we are pure and as a result we have covenanted with God to try to live a life worthy of returning to his presence. To do this we have covenanted to sin no-more. Although it isn’t possible for any of us to be perfect we are commanded to try, and the rest is left to the grace of our redeemer.

I hope this crash course has peeked your interest, take time this week to think about what actions you have taken in church and what the Lord may be expecting in return. I am sure you will agree that these expectations are covenants. 

God made me this way!!!

As most of you know, Travis works for Ameriprise, one of the all-time best employers of the LGBT community. I used to work there, and so did several of you – I had a recent thought as I was washing the dishes a few nights ago that in-turn prompted a scripture study. Remember all those LGBT individuals who would try and make the argument that they were born a specific way, or going even further would say that God made them this way?

                Well open up Genesis of any King James version of the bible and read about the creation. Pay attention to the order of things when it comes to creating man. Here’s what I found….when God created man, prior to putting the breath of life into what he had created, he gave the physical body a blessing. He blessed it to multiply and replenish the Earth. So God made us with the intention of having male and female join together one family. To believe God has made you L, B, G, or T is not faith in God but rather yielding to temptation, and societal influences.

                I hope you all take the time to discover and have the spirit testify to you of this simple truth, love those around us, but condemn the sins we engage in. Together we can become more than we ever could alone. 

A slight addition

Hey folks, as you all know coursework has started for me! I am taking a religion class that focuses on “The Family: A Proclamation to the World”, as one of my requirements I’ll be posting a blog each Wednesday covering things I found interesting, insights I’ve gained, and or memories that this class has brought back to me. Our first two weeks are going to be about gender and eternal identity.

After celebrating Travis’ birthday I have to say that I feel so happy to have a husband and worthy priesthood holder in my life. As most of you all know, I struggle to be the mom that loves to be a mom, and I feel like I can relate to Eve and her experience of being the very first mother (ever) and not having anyone to ask for help. However, having a loving husband, who carries those gender specific traits that my children (and I) need is a great comfort. Although God commanded Adam and Eve to multiply and replenish the Earth, it is clear this commandment has extended to us, and his divine plan calls for husbands and wives to be male and female. It simply doesn’t work any other way, and I have a testimony of the need for both a male and female to join together in the procreation and raising of a family.