I loved this quote from Elder Perry's talk, "Mothers Teaching Children in the Home."
"My mother understood the value of teaching her children about standards, values, and doctrine while they were young. While she was grateful to others who taught her children outside the home at either school or church, she recognized that parents are entrusted with the education of their children and, ultimately, parents must ensure that their children are being taught what their Heavenly Father would have them learn. My siblings and I were quizzed very carefully by our mother after we had been taught away from the home to be certain the correct lessons were reaching our ears and shaping our minds."
I love talking to Grant about what he learned in nursery or what he did when he was at someone's house. I am learning that Grant might need some time right when he comes home to play and calm down and then he is more willing to talk later. I also need to be certain the correct lessons are reaching his ears.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
It's been awhile!
I've been sitting here reading conference talks and wanted somewhere I could write down my thoughts, and I remembered this blog! Funny that the last thing that was on here was conference from October. A lot has happened since then! We welcomed our little girl into the family, and it has been a wonderful blessing. She and our boy have caused me to reflect a lot on my responsibilities as a parent, especially since that seemed to be the theme of conference! I was amazed at how many talks touched on this topic. Right now I am reading Elder Bednar's talk titled "Watching with all perseverance."
He describes "A spiritual early warning system that can help parents in Zion to be watchful and discerning concerning their children. This early warning system applies to children of all ages and contains three basic components: (1) reading and talking about the Book of Mormon with your children, (2) bearing testimony of gospel truths spontaneously with your children, and (3) inviting children as gospel learners to act and not merely be acted upon. Parents who do these things faithfully will be blessed to recognize early signals of spiritual growth in or challenges with their children and be better prepared to receive inspiration to strengthen and help those children."
That's a pretty good promise there, so I need to get going on my end of the deal! Here is something interesting he said about the Book of Mormon:
"Regular reading of and talking about the Book of Mormon invite the power to resist temptation and to produce feelings of love within our families. And discussions about the doctrines and principles in the Book of Mormon provide opportunities for parents to observe their children, to listen to them, to learn from them, and to teach them.
"Youth of all ages, even infants, can and do respond to the distinctive spirit of the Book of Mormon. Children may not understand all of the words and stories, but they certainly can feel the “familiar spirit” described by Isaiah (Isaiah 29:4; see also 2 Nephi 26:16). And the questions a child asks, the observations a child shares, and the discussions that occur provide crucial spiritual early warning signals. Importantly, such conversations can help parents to discern what their children are learning, thinking, and feeling about the truths contained in this sacred volume of scripture, as well as the difficulties they may be facing."
Gboy already asks questions and notices things that I need to start paying more attention to.
The next part about bearing testimony:
"Parents should be vigilant and spiritually attentive to spontaneously occurring opportunities to bear testimony to their children. Such occasions need not be programmed, scheduled, or scripted. In fact, the less regimented such testimony sharing is, the greater the likelihood for edification and lasting impact. “Neither take ye thought beforehand what ye shall say; but treasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man” (D&C 84:85)."
So I can spend time learning and studying the gospel and treasuring up its lessons in my mind so I will be prepared to share my testimony with our little ones. That's something tangible that I can do and set goals for, so I liked that idea.
The last part was the hardest for me to apply. He says
"As parents and gospel instructors, you and I are not in the business of distributing fish; rather, our work is to help our children learn “to fish” and to become spiritually steadfast. This vital objective is best accomplished as we encourage our children to act in accordance with correct principles—as we help them to learn by doing. “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God” (John 7:17). Such learning requires spiritual, mental, and physical exertion and not just passive reception."
He describes "A spiritual early warning system that can help parents in Zion to be watchful and discerning concerning their children. This early warning system applies to children of all ages and contains three basic components: (1) reading and talking about the Book of Mormon with your children, (2) bearing testimony of gospel truths spontaneously with your children, and (3) inviting children as gospel learners to act and not merely be acted upon. Parents who do these things faithfully will be blessed to recognize early signals of spiritual growth in or challenges with their children and be better prepared to receive inspiration to strengthen and help those children."
That's a pretty good promise there, so I need to get going on my end of the deal! Here is something interesting he said about the Book of Mormon:
"Regular reading of and talking about the Book of Mormon invite the power to resist temptation and to produce feelings of love within our families. And discussions about the doctrines and principles in the Book of Mormon provide opportunities for parents to observe their children, to listen to them, to learn from them, and to teach them.
"Youth of all ages, even infants, can and do respond to the distinctive spirit of the Book of Mormon. Children may not understand all of the words and stories, but they certainly can feel the “familiar spirit” described by Isaiah (Isaiah 29:4; see also 2 Nephi 26:16). And the questions a child asks, the observations a child shares, and the discussions that occur provide crucial spiritual early warning signals. Importantly, such conversations can help parents to discern what their children are learning, thinking, and feeling about the truths contained in this sacred volume of scripture, as well as the difficulties they may be facing."
Gboy already asks questions and notices things that I need to start paying more attention to.
The next part about bearing testimony:
"Parents should be vigilant and spiritually attentive to spontaneously occurring opportunities to bear testimony to their children. Such occasions need not be programmed, scheduled, or scripted. In fact, the less regimented such testimony sharing is, the greater the likelihood for edification and lasting impact. “Neither take ye thought beforehand what ye shall say; but treasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man” (D&C 84:85)."
So I can spend time learning and studying the gospel and treasuring up its lessons in my mind so I will be prepared to share my testimony with our little ones. That's something tangible that I can do and set goals for, so I liked that idea.
The last part was the hardest for me to apply. He says
"As parents and gospel instructors, you and I are not in the business of distributing fish; rather, our work is to help our children learn “to fish” and to become spiritually steadfast. This vital objective is best accomplished as we encourage our children to act in accordance with correct principles—as we help them to learn by doing. “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God” (John 7:17). Such learning requires spiritual, mental, and physical exertion and not just passive reception."
"Are you and I helping our children become agents who act and seek learning by study and by faith, or have we trained our children to wait to be taught and acted upon? Are we as parents primarily giving our children the equivalent of spiritual fish to eat, or are we consistently helping them to act, to learn for themselves, and to stand steadfast and immovable? Are we helping our children become anxiously engaged in asking, seeking, and knocking? (See 3 Nephi 14:7.)
"The spiritual understanding you and I have been blessed to receive, and which has been confirmed as true in our hearts, simply cannot be given to our children. The tuition of diligence and of learning by study and also by faith must be paid to obtain and personally “own” such knowledge. Only in this way can what is known in the mind also be felt in the heart. Only in this way can a child move beyond relying upon the spiritual knowledge and experiences of parents and adults and claim those blessings for himself or herself. Only in this way can our children be prepared spiritually for the challenges of mortality."
Wow, that one makes me feel the weight on my shoulders of teaching my children. I can't be passive. Recently in our marriage Sunday school class, we talked about the value of our personal testimony as being greater than scripture stories. Sharing our convictions of the truths of the gospel through personal stories and examples will teach our children more than stories, although they obviously are still important and good. So I am trying to notice more when I feel the Holy Ghost or when my prayers are answered so I can talk to my kids about it.
I also remembered this inspiration just now- I need to collect stories from family members, living and those who have passed on- that are testimony building. I'd like to make a compilation of them and read them to my kids. Wouldn't that be neat?
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