Never Off Duty Teachers

This week's paragraph is:

Mothers Who Know Are Teachers
Mothers who know are always teachers. Since they are not babysitters, they are never off duty. A well-taught friend told me that he did not learn anything at church that he had not already learned at home. His parents used family scripture study, prayer, family home evening, mealtimes, and other gatherings to teach. Think of the power of our future missionary force if mothers considered their homes as a pre–missionary training center. Then the doctrines of the gospel taught in the MTC would be a review and not a revelation. That is influence; that is power.

Mothers Who Know Are Leaders

I took a week's break since the last week and a half, I've been busy with Easter activities, parents in town, canning, learning how to make bread, reading "Parenting Breakthrough" by Merrilee Boyack, etc., etc. -- which I will blog about later (I have been researching how to do kids' allowance without tying it to chores. A friend of mine recommended this book, and I highly recommend it!).

This week, I will be focusing on the following paragraph:

Mothers Who Know Are Leaders

Mothers who know are leaders. In equal partnership with their husbands, they lead a great and eternal organization. These mothers plan for the future of their organization. They plan for missions, temple marriages, and education. They plan for prayer, scripture study, and family home evening. Mothers who know build children into future leaders and are the primary examples of what leaders look like. They do not abandon their plan by succumbing to social pressure and worldly models of parenting. These wise mothers who know are selective about their own activities and involvement to conserve their limited strength in order to maximize their influence where it matters most.

Meaty paragraph! What a challenge to be a PRIMARY example of what leaders look like! So what should leaders look like? Food for thought. I do love the last sentence - I have learned to be selective about activities and involvement, but don't think I have the "limited strength" part down yet since I tend to take on a lot at a time. I will remind myself that the purpose in being selective about activities/involvement is so that I don't spread myself too thin. I should maximize my influence at home, with my family/kids.

BTW, Collin just came in here to tell me I should be getting to bed so I don't get sleepy at preschool tomorrow and showed me his finished Mr. Mack art work (looks like a robot). That's my cute boy.

Conference Report

This weekend's Conference talks were so uplifting. The kids for the most part stayed in our bedroom and worked on the conference packets I put together for them. Allie did pretty well with taking "summary" notes during the first session (short lines to describe the talk), and then kept getting "bored". Collin spent the time coloring pictures and drawing a variety of trucks and cars. They didn't do a bunch of tally marks this year - I think the 3 pages were too cumbersome to mark the boxes in time -- I will be reworking the sheet again to make it all fit in one page but have the boxes just a little larger. (ahh, just when I think I made things easier and better, my kids prove me wrong!)

As for me: I especially want to re-read and study Elder Holland's talk on the Atonement, Elder Hales message on saving and living within our means, Elder Pearson's talk on faith, Pres. Monson's message of counting the blessings we have of the gospel, and Elder Stevenson's talk on homes and temples.

Elder Stevenson's talk is a very fitting talk to study along with the Mothers Who Know paragrah from last week (nurturers). Specifically, the phrase: Growth happens best in a "house of order," and women should pattern their homes after the Lord's house.

We can make our homes a house of the Lord. He invites us to take a "virtual tour" of our home using spiritual eyes.

1. Walking inside your home, What do you see? How do you feel? Is it a place of love and refuge from the world?

2. Is it clean and orderly?

3. As you walk thru, do you see uplifting images which include appropriate picturesthe Savior and temple?

4. Is your bedroom a place for personal prayer?

5. Is your gathering area (kitchen and dining) a place where food is prepared and enjoyed together allowing uplifting conversation and family time?

6. Are the scriptures found in the room where the family can study, pray and learn together?

7. Can you find a personal gospel study place?

8. Is the music or entertainment you see offend the spirit?

9. Is the conversation uplifting, without contention?

What a great way to take stock/inventory of our homes! I am grateful for the messages we heard this weekend. We are so blessed to have a living prophet and apostles today.

Mothers Who Know Are Nurturers

Here is the paragraph for this week:

Mothers Who Know Are Nurturers

Mothers who know are nurturers. This is their special assignment and role under the plan of happiness. To nurture means to cultivate, care for, and make grow. Therefore, mothers who know create a climate for spiritual and temporal growth in their homes. Another word for nurturing is homemaking. Homemaking includes cooking, washing clothes and dishes, and keeping an orderly home. Home is where women have the most power and influence; therefore, Latter-day Saint women should be the best homemakers in the world. Working beside children in homemaking tasks creates opportunities to teach and model qualities children should emulate. Nurturing mothers are knowledgeable, but all the education women attain will avail them nothing if they do not have the skill to make a home that creates a climate for spiritual growth. Growth happens best in a “house of order,” and women should pattern their homes after the Lord’s house (see D&C 109). Nurturing requires organization, patience, love, and work. Helping growth occur through nurturing is truly a powerful and influential role bestowed on women.

As I read this paragraph and highlighted the phrases that stood out to me, the words "organization, patience, love and work" especially jumped out at me. It does require a lot of those things to make a home and to have an environment where BOTH temporal and spiritual growth can occur. For many that know me, I love an orderly, clutter-free home. Call it OCD but I have to have my countertops clear and beds made before a certain EARLY hour of the day. I am more productive when my house is orderly, I feel I am "together" and ready to do all that I set out to accomplish. But I have to be careful that I do not make this a priority over more important matters like sitting down with my kids to play and do art, for example.

The scripture in D&C 109 reminds me that having a house of order encompasses so much more than appearances. A house of order is also a house of faith and prayer, a house of God. I need to do more of the "working beside" my kids with chores around the house. That is a challenge for me sometimes, because it is just so much easier and faster if I do it! So if the tomato sauce and shredded cheese ends up all over the floor while the kids help make pizza for dinner for example, I don't look or try not to look down at the floor. I just try to focus on the look on their faces as they're making the pizza. Or if they have used 10+ paper towels and sprayed a ton of Windex on the one glass French door, it's not the end of the world.

More thoughts later... I think it's time to make dinner!

Mothers Who Know - Week 2

These are my kids racing towards sunset in Taylor yesterday. To me, this photo describes exactly how I feel about my responsibility and privilege to honor my covenants, so that I can help point them towards the temple. I hope they will feel as happy and excited (about the temple, the gospel) as they were when I took this photo. Here is the section I will be focusing on this week:

Mothers Who Know Honor Sacred Ordinances and Covenants

Mothers who know honor sacred ordinances and covenants. I have visited sacrament meetings in some of the poorest places on the earth where mothers have dressed with great care in their Sunday best despite walking for miles on dusty streets and using worn-out public transportation. They bring daughters in clean and ironed dresses with hair brushed to perfection; their sons wear white shirts and ties and have missionary haircuts. These mothers know they are going to sacrament meeting, where covenants are renewed. These mothers have made and honor temple covenants. They know that if they are not pointing their children to the temple, they are not pointing them toward desired eternal goals. These mothers have influence and power.

What can I do to point my children to the temple? These are what came to my mind first:

1. Go to the temple. If my children see that their parents attend the temple regularly and make time for it, then it will also be important to them.
2. Teach them about the temple. How? - tell them about the day we were married in the temple, special memories, visit temple grounds, etc.
3. Teach them the importance of Sacrament meeting. How? - manner of dress and how to behave during Sacrament meeting, be on time for Sacrament meeting. Help them to understand that Sacrament meeting is a place to renew covenants (do they know what that means?)

Mothers Who Know

I am joining my friends, Brooke (and a few of her friends) and Jen in the Mothers Who Know Challenge -- the challenge is to study Julie Beck's talk "Mothers Who Know" and focusing on only one section per week leading up to Mother's Day. I discovered the challenge on Brooke's blog a week ago, and then while I was thinking about how cool this was, saw that Jen had joined in. I told both I would be doing it too, so here is my first post on the first section. I highlighted the phrases that stood out to me:

Mothers who know bear children

"Mothers who know desire to bear children. Whereas in many cultures in the world children are “becoming less valued,” in the culture of the gospel we still believe in having children. Prophets, seers, and revelators who were sustained at this conference have declared that “God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force.” President Ezra Taft Benson taught that young couples should not postpone having children and that “in the eternal perspective, children—not possessions, not position, not prestige—are our greatest jewels.”

Faithful daughters of God desire children. In the scriptures we read of Eve. Sarah, Rebekah, and Mary who were foreordained to be mothers before children were born to them. Some women are not given the responsibility of bearing children in mortality, but just as Hannah of the Old Testament prayed fervently for her child, the value women place on motherhood in this life and the attributes of motherhood they attain here will rise with them in the Resurrection. Women who desire and work toward that blessing in this life are promised they will receive it for all eternity, and eternity is much, much longer than mortality. There is eternal influence and power in motherhood.

Children truly are our greatest jewels! I know this, and love being a mom. They grow up way too fast - it only takes a moment to remember their births, fast forward to where they are now - and then wonder where all the time went! I love the everyday joys of having children around me - the little "I love you's", kisses, and hugs; seeing them learn something new and running to find you so you could see!; watching them as they drift off to sleep; kissing them better when they have aches and pains; hearing them pray, etc -- these are just a few. I am grateful for my kids, and feel very blessed because of them.

Thanks Brooke for sharing the challenge!