My Kids

My kids have really and truly become my whole life in a nutshell. I never really questioned waiting a while after marriage to start having kids. I always wanted to let things happen and today, I am the mother of 3 beautiful kids. Each of them are unique and each of them, I love dearly with all my heart despite the tantrums and frustration that emits from them from time to time as they are learning and growing.

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we have the opportunity to visit teach on a monthly basis, sisters or women in the ward from various backgrounds and ages so that we can learn and grow together in friendship, love and service. Each month, we are urged to share a message with the sisters we are assigned to teach. In the past, my visits have varied in subject depending on who the person was and how to get to know them for who they are in life. Some of them, I will have a prepared message to inspire them with and others, just a simple conversation of comfort and laughs. Sometimes, there is good food involved and other times, tender moments.

I really appreciated this months message in particular because it was meant to help give strength and encouragement to moms out there and give them peace of mind that their efforts are appreciated.

The message title was "Nurture the Rising Generation." There are always questions to answer in each month and the first question was, "What is my responsibility to the Rising Generation?"

I appreciated what Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the presidency of the Seventy said, "Our rising generation is worthy of our best efforts to support and strengthen them in their journey to adulthood....In every action we take, in every place we go, with every Latter-Day Saint young person we meet, we need to have an increased awareness of the need for strengthening, nurturing, and being an influence for good in their lives."

We need to be an example to our children and do the right things instead of just tell them. You never know when they are listening and watching and trying to become like you. One of the kids I use to babysit sent me a thank you note in the mail a couple years ago saying just how much my decisions as a teenager, helped her strive to make good choices and goals in her life. We really do make a difference in kids lives as we interact and teach them. The importance of being "an influence for good in their lives" is vital and we need to remember.

The second question asked was "How can I nurture the rising generation?" I liked a couple tid bits that are important to this question. How Julie B. Beck, Relief Society general president stated, "Nurturing requires organization, patience, love and work."

I have found that statement to be so true. When I am truly organized and truly take the patience and work to show them I love them and spend time with them on their own, they behave better than when I am engulfed in doing other things around the house. It also helps with what Barbara Thompson, the second counselor in the general relief society, said that it makes a difference when others "say or do just the thing that is needed to reinforce what a parent is trying to teach."

Then all of a sudden, its not just mom or dad who are telling the kids how to do and say things, but its others who they look up to as well.

Finally, President Gordon B. Hinckley spoke some powerful words on the subject that we can draw comfort with in saying, "Never forget that these little ones are the sons and daughters of God and that yours is a custodial relationship to them, that He was a parent before you were parents and that He has not relinquished His parental rights or interest in these His little ones....Rear your children in love, in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Take care of your little ones. Welcome them into your homes, and nurture and love them with all of your hearts. They may do, in years that come, some things you would not want them to do, but be patient, be patient. You have not failed as long as you have tried."

So with these uplifting thoughts, I trudge onward in trying to be more patient with my kids and continuing to try the best I can to nurture them as they grow and learn and try new things. Have you tried today? My kids and your kids and all kids deserve your efforts to try.