If you've stumbled upon my blog and don't really know me, I'll apologize now :) I'm a very emotional person. There isn't alot of "grey" with me, and I usually wear that pretty clearly on my sleeve. I am a mother of six(I LOVE how that sounds), with five biological children and one that is currently ALL the way across the world waiting for us to be approved to bring her home! I'm m.a.d.l.y. in love with my husband, who's 1000x better today than he was the day I married him. My children are perfect. Yep, you heard me: perfect. At least for me. Because I have lessons I'd not learn any other way than by being their mom. And there are days that I cry myself to sleep because they've been so long and so hard...and the task of being a wife and mother is overwhelming. Not overwhelming in the sense I'm borderline nutzo...and require padded walls.(But, sometimes I
dream of them!) Overwhelming because I KNOW that those two responsibilities and priviledges are of huge consequence and blessing to me eternally.
And, I'm LDS. AND...this is
my blog, so I can shout it from the roof top: I
AM a Christian!!!!! Within our church there is no paid clergy. Everyone does their time in certain assignments given by the Bishop, our local leader, as he feels impressed by revelation. Currently my husband is the YM President, which he's been for the last 11+ years, and I'm the Primary President; which means he deals with all the 12-18 year old boys, and me, all the children from age 18 months to 12 years. Its awesome, and we both love where we serve. The members of our church are kind of on rotation to speak in Sacrament, our main worship meeting. This Sunday its us. So...if you are curious to learn what we believe about the family, I've attatched the talk I prepared. Its long...Happy reading!
I was asked to talk on something I hold as one of my greatest treasures. It has been incredibly difficult to organize my thoughts on this topic because there is almost nothing of greater importance to me. I have born my testimony to my children countless times that there are only 2 things in this life that I care for…two things I would sacrifice anything and everything for. The first is my personal testimony of the Savior, and of this great gospel and a Merciful Father who will allow me to return back to Him. The second is my family. And then, I always testify to them how these two treasures are critically connected to one another.
I was asked to talk today about the eternal nature of our family. There are some lyrics of a song that is written by an LDS composer that say: “Has the world ever been so confused? There’s so much deception, so much untruth. Does anyone stand for anything anymore?” As I have prepared for this talk, I am most convinced that the truths about the importance of this most basic, simple and essential unit, the FAMILY, are so very distorted today. I testify that the eternal nature of the family is one of the purest truths of this gospel. And it is for this reason alone that there is so much effort to erase what we know about our premortal beginnings..our mortal life…and our eternal potential.
The family is the most important social unit on the earth. It is also the basic and most important unit in heaven. The doctrine of the family begins with heavenly parents. We are God’s children. We lived with him before we came to earth. We knew and worshipped God as our Eternal Father, and gladly accepted his plan that would allow us to come to earth, obtain a physical body, and then gain the earthly experiences that would progress us toward perfection and our eternal destiny as an heir of eternal life.
From the earliest beginnings, God established the family, and made it eternal. Moses 5:59 teaches us that Adam and Eve were sealed in marriage for time and all eternity.
The Savior spoke of this sacred marriage covenant and promise when He gave the authority to his disciples to bind in heaven sacred covenants made on earth. Mat 16:19
In our day, the promise of eternal families was restored in 1829 when the powers of the Melchizedek Priesthood were restored on earth. In the Kirtland temple, seven years later, the keys to perform the sealing ordinances were restored…
The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make It possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally.
What is the promise of these sealings which are performed in temples? The lord outlines the promise and requirements in this sacred verse: D & C 132:19
As taught in this scripture, an eternal bond doesn’t just happen as a result of the sealing covenant we make in the temple. How we conduct ourselves in this life will determine what we will be in the eternities. To receive the blessings of the sealing that our Heavenly Father has given to us, we have to keep the commandments and conduct ourselves in a way that our families will WANT to be sealed to us for all eternity.
When Kolbe was about 5, he and Kenna,3, had some squabble, which I can’t even recall the details to. But I do remember that Kenna was at fault! And that Kolbe was really mad at her! After banishing the guilty one to her room for a little reflection time…I remember sitting on the bed with Kolbe. He was always really smart, and very spiritual for his age. So I seized this opportunity to talk with him about the gospel plan at large…and how forgiveness worked into it…and how he HAD to forgive Kenna because ultimately she was his sister, and we were a forever family. Well, it didn’t take long for him to put those truths to 5 year old logic. He crossed his arms with a huff and pronounced, “well…..I’d rather live in hell for eternity than be sealed to HER!” Obviously a little dramatic…but it reminds us often that we are a family forever, and that no matter what we do we need to remember that, and act accordingly.
The family relationships we have on this earth are important, but they are much more important for their effect on our families for generations in mortality and throughout all of eternity.
It is by divine commandment that spouses are required to love each other above all others. D&C 42:22
The Family: The Proclamation to the World reads ‘that marriage between a man and woman is ordained of God, and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.’ It then teaches that we are created in the image of God, our Eternal Father, and that we each have an eternal identity and purpose.
“Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and their children. Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness.”
The divine privilege of raising our children is a much greater responsibility than we can do alone, without the Lord’s help. He knows exactly what our children need to know, do, and what they need to be to come back into His presence. We are entitled to specific instruction through prayer, scripture and revelation for our families.
We are to teach our children to understand the doctrine. When my brother Brad had just returned from his mission…we were getting ready to bless our newest baby, Eli. He said something to me that I’ve never forgotten. He told me to make sure that no matter what I did in raising these kids…to make sure I didn’t just talk about the church, but that I instilled it into who they were. They can’t be expected to make the choices coherent with the plan of happiness if they don’t understand what benefit those choices will provide them.
Jeffery R. Holland said, “we all understand that the success of the gospel message depends on its being taught, and then understood, and then lived in such a way that its promise of happiness and salvation can be realized.”
Have you ever just read the words to the favorite primary song “I am A Child of God”?
I am a child of God. And he has sent me here. Has given me an earthly home with parents kin and dear. Lead me, guide me, walk beside me, help me find the way. Teach me all that I must do, to live with Him someday.
The world is SO confused. But Satan’s not. He knows why we are here and how absolutely critical the family is to our eternal progression. Consider some of the ways that family is under attack:
Divorce, cohabitation, abuse, homosexuality, abortion, teen pregnancy, pornography, disobedient children, economic struggles that distort our roles, the idea that a woman deserves her glory in the world rather than at home, large families are a thing of the past…
So what do we do?
DECIDE TO PLAN FOR SUCCESS! Not failure. Statistics are not in our favor! They would try and convince us that a family composed of a loving father and mother, with children taught and cared for in the way that the Proclamation enjoins is an extinct tradition. We have enough evidence in our own families to know that righteous people sometimes have their families ripped apart by circumstances beyond our control. It takes courage and faith to plan for what God holds before us as the ideal…rather than what might be forced upon us by circumstance. If we plan for success…we will work toward that end.
In this recent conference, President Monson encouraged us not to wait for a moment of ‘clarity’…or a life changing event…before we prioritize our lives. Some life events are so startling we are forced to rethink our priorities, and determine what things are merely trivial. We need to focus NOW on what is of eternal worth. He said, “Such moments of clarity come to all of us at one time or another, although not always through dramatic circumstance. We see clearly what it is that really matters in our lives and how we should be living.”
The Savior said “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
In our times of deepest reflection and greatest need, the soul of man reaches heavenward, seeking a divine response to life’s greatest questions: where did we come from? Why are we here? And where do we go when we leave this life?
I testify that the answer to each of these questions centers on the great truth the family is eternal! We lived in the premortal existence as a family. We live today as a family. And we hope to live forever as a family.
While our individual salvation hinges on individual obedience, it is equally important that we each understand that we are an important and integral part of a family, and that the highest blessings of the gospel are reserved for an eternal family. When families function as designed by God, those relationships are the most important of our mortality. Family love and companionship will continue into the eternities. It is not enough to save ourselves. If we return home alone, our heavenly father will ask: “where is the rest of your family?” I know I want eternal life with ALL of my family. Not just a select few of them! This is why the doctrine of eternal families stresses that families are forever, because the eternal nature of the individual becomes the eternal nature of the family.
The gospel is more than just beautiful doctrine! It is a reality in our lives that if we are obedient, and seek the blessings God offers, we WILL find peace and happiness now and in the eternities.
We should do all that we can to fortify our families against the efforts of Satan. We need to pray together. We need to have family home evening. We need to make the time to TEACH the gospel so that our children understand it…and desire to live its teachings. We need to INSTILL the glad message of the Plan of Salvation upon our children. In times so confusing as these, what else is there that lends peace and happiness greater than this truth: a family is forever! We need to live the gospel, and share what we know to be a treasure of great worth.
.jpg)
