Our 8 year old daughter was baptized recently. And one day after that she decided to throw a huge temper tantrum. I was able to take her aside and explain to her that even though she may be sorry to mommy and daddy, we are not the only ones she has to apologize to now. Now that she is baptised she needs to truly repent of what she had done wrong and basically apologize to heavenly father and promise not to do it again.
It was the perfect opportunity for me to teach about repentance in a loving and compassionate way. Too often we let emotions cloud our judgement when disciplining our children and consequently we are not led by the spirit. But I truly feel that the spirit guided me that day.
As I was pondering faith and repentance today I came across this quote by President Ezra Taft Benson:
"Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the foundation upon which sincere and meaningful repentance must be built. If we truly seek to put away sin, we must first look to Him who is the Author of our salvation."
Ezra Taft Benson, "A Mighty Change of Heart," Ensign, Oct. 1989, 2
May we all strive to have more faith in our Savior, Jesus Christ and the plans that He has for each and everyone of us.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
So yesterday I was home all day with the kids while Nora went to work and I didn't get the chance to get on the computer. So here I am now on and I have this to share.
Last night as we were saying our family prayer, Nora said something to the effect of "help our children to be chaste" or something to that effect. Right after the prayer Abbey gets up and asks, "What does chaste mean?"
Naturally, that caught us off guard for a second. So Nora decides to go ahead and try and explain the "birds and the bees" to our 8 year old and 6 year old. I know some parents are thinking, what are you doing? You don't bring that up to an 8 year old and a 6 year old. Unfortunately, in this day and age my 6 year old already knew some about sex. She learned it in school from her kindergarten classmates.
So I went searching, letting the spirit guide my search and came upon this article on lds.org titled "Teaching about Procreation and Chastity."
It is imperative that we teach our children these things early because we never know where or when they are going to hear it first. For any parent who feels that an 8 year old and a 6 year old are too young to start learning these things needs to read this article. I feel strongly that what my wife did by explaining further to them was completely correct and I know with a surety that she was being guided by the spirit last night. I hope that all who read this will read that article, but I also wanted to add this quote from that article.
Elder Mark E. Petersen explained:
“Sex education belongs in the home, where parents can teach chastity in a spiritual environment as they reveal the facts of life to their children. There, in all plainness, the youngsters can be taught that procreation is part of the creative work of God and that, therefore, the act of replenishing the earth must be kept on the high plane of personal purity that God provides, free from all form of perversion.
“Unskilled parents can learn to teach their children properly. In fact, God commands it, and who are we to disobey?” (In Conference Report, Apr. 1969, p. 64; or Improvement Era, June 1969, p. 78).
So for Sis. Mo., you did great babe. Keep it up.
Last night as we were saying our family prayer, Nora said something to the effect of "help our children to be chaste" or something to that effect. Right after the prayer Abbey gets up and asks, "What does chaste mean?"
Naturally, that caught us off guard for a second. So Nora decides to go ahead and try and explain the "birds and the bees" to our 8 year old and 6 year old. I know some parents are thinking, what are you doing? You don't bring that up to an 8 year old and a 6 year old. Unfortunately, in this day and age my 6 year old already knew some about sex. She learned it in school from her kindergarten classmates.
So I went searching, letting the spirit guide my search and came upon this article on lds.org titled "Teaching about Procreation and Chastity."
It is imperative that we teach our children these things early because we never know where or when they are going to hear it first. For any parent who feels that an 8 year old and a 6 year old are too young to start learning these things needs to read this article. I feel strongly that what my wife did by explaining further to them was completely correct and I know with a surety that she was being guided by the spirit last night. I hope that all who read this will read that article, but I also wanted to add this quote from that article.
Elder Mark E. Petersen explained:
“Sex education belongs in the home, where parents can teach chastity in a spiritual environment as they reveal the facts of life to their children. There, in all plainness, the youngsters can be taught that procreation is part of the creative work of God and that, therefore, the act of replenishing the earth must be kept on the high plane of personal purity that God provides, free from all form of perversion.
“Unskilled parents can learn to teach their children properly. In fact, God commands it, and who are we to disobey?” (In Conference Report, Apr. 1969, p. 64; or Improvement Era, June 1969, p. 78).
So for Sis. Mo., you did great babe. Keep it up.
Monday, June 1, 2009
In my defense I did have a campout with the Young Men this weekend so that was why I missed Friday and Saturday, but I have no excuse for the rest of the time. Anyway, instead of a scripture today I wanted to post a web gem that I get from lds.org on the Book of Mormon. This is a quote from Craig C. Christensen and it exemplifies all of my feelings about the Book of Mormon. Here it is:
"I express my solemn witness that the Book of Mormon is true. It is a book that has brought about a mighty change in my life. I know that God lives. Jesus is the Christ. His gospel has been restored to the earth. President Thomas S. Monson is His prophet and living oracle at this time. The Spirit I feel as I daily read, ponder, and pray about the Book of Mormon strengthens my understanding and testimony of these things and reaffirms to me that they are true."
Craig C. Christensen, "A Book with a Promise," Ensign, May 2008, 107
"I express my solemn witness that the Book of Mormon is true. It is a book that has brought about a mighty change in my life. I know that God lives. Jesus is the Christ. His gospel has been restored to the earth. President Thomas S. Monson is His prophet and living oracle at this time. The Spirit I feel as I daily read, ponder, and pray about the Book of Mormon strengthens my understanding and testimony of these things and reaffirms to me that they are true."
Craig C. Christensen, "A Book with a Promise," Ensign, May 2008, 107
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