31 Days to Better Parenting: Day 12

Well, the blogger website was down on Day 12 and it was so much easier to miss the other days, after this day was missed... so now I'm playing catch up!


This is probably the best quote I've read so far on parenting, to help keep things in perspective and keep me motivated!


"We hold in our arms the rising generation. They come to this earth with important responsibilities and great spiritual capacities. We cannot be casual in how we prepare them. Our challenge as parents and teachers is not to create a spiritual core in their souls but rather to fan the flame of their spiritual core already aglow with the fire of their premortal faith."


AWESOME!!!


Tell Me the Stories of Jesus by Neil L. Anderson





"In our world today, each child, each young man and young woman needs his or her own conversion to the truth. Each needs his or her own light, his or her own “steadfast and immovable” ⁷ faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, independent of parents, youth leaders, and supportive friends." ...


"The stories of Jesus can be like a rushing wind across the embers of faith in the hearts of our children. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” ⁸ The stories of Jesus shared over and over bring faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and strength to the foundation of testimony. Can you think of a more valuable gift for our children?"


I relate this next part of Elder Anderson's talk to the book of Alma Chapter 5 in the Book of Mormon... Chapter 5 asks many personal questions in regards to a their conversion. Elder Anderson's talk asks many questions about a person's parenting conversion.


"Are the life and teachings of Jesus Christ embedded in the minds and souls of our children? Do they think about the Savior’s life when they wonder what to do in their own lives? This will be more and more important in the years ahead.

Have our children visualized the premortal council, ⁹ where Jesus—the greatest of all—declared, 'Here am I, send me'? ¹⁰ Do they see their own willingness to serve as following His example?

Do they think about His humble birth, ¹¹ the Savior of the world lying in a manger? ¹² Do His circumstances help them better understand the proper place of material possessions?

Do they know that Jesus often taught, 'Ask, and ye shall receive'? ¹³ Do His prayers of thankfulness ¹⁴ and His pleadings to His Father ¹⁵ flow through our children’s minds as they kneel in prayer with their own concerns?

Have we told them of the love Jesus has for children, how He held them in His arms, prayed for them, and wept? ¹⁶ Do our children know that Jesus stands ready 'with open arms to receive [them]'? ¹⁷

Do they take strength in the stories of Jesus fasting ¹⁸ —as we teach them the law of the fast?

In their own loneliness, do our children know the loneliness the Savior felt as His friends deserted Him and as He asked His Apostles, 'Will ye also go away?' ¹⁹

Have our children felt the power of the Savior’s miracles? Jesus healed the leper, ²⁰ gave sight to the blind. ²¹ He fed the 5,000, ²² calmed the sea, ²³and raised Lazarus from the dead. ²⁴ Do our children believe that “it is by faith that miracles are wrought,” ²⁵ and do they pray for miracles in their own lives?

Have our children taken courage from the Savior’s words to the ruler of the synagogue: 'Be not afraid, only believe'? ²⁶

Do our children know about His perfect life, ²⁷ His selfless ministry, His betrayal and cruel Crucifixion? ²⁸ Have we testified to them of the certainty of His Resurrection, ²⁹ of His visit to the Nephites in the Americas, ³⁰ of His appearance to the Prophet Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove? ³¹

Do they anticipate His majestic return, when all will be made right and every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ? ³²

Do our children say, 'Tell me the stories of Jesus I love to hear'? ^"

^"To the youth and children: Live up to your important responsibilities and great spiritual capacities."

"I make a special appeal to fathers: Please be an important part of talking to your children about the Savior. They need the confirming expressions of your faith, along with those of their mother."

"If a child is not listening, don’t despair. Time and truth are on your side. At the right moment, your words will return as if from heaven itself. Your testimony will never leave your children.

As you reverently speak about the Savior—in the car, on the bus, at the dinner table, as you kneel in prayer, during scripture study, or in late-night conversations—the Spirit of the Lord will accompany your words. ^"