This has been a really crazy week. We have been sick---which includes a horrible headache, runny nose, sore throat, nausea, cough, wheezing (for the asthmatics), congestion, and just plain tiredness for about a week. We have had a lot going on, both in our family and in our ward, even at my sweetheart's work. (I haven't even planned my primary music for the month, not even for this next week....)
I have been coming down with symptoms of the illness, but I kind of refuse to get sick and just do my own thingy, so I have been able to keep it at bay, mostly. Tonight, I started feeling nauseous. I went walking with my sweetheart anyway (in high school, I learned that if I exercised even when I felt sick I usually felt better afterward and didn't stay sick very long.....). When I got home, the kiddos still hadn't had dinner, but Spanky almost had it finished.
In an effort to just relax and recoup, I sat in the living room and found a photocopy of a lesson one of my sons is suppose to present this next month in his priesthood quorum. I decided to read it. It was this one: How do the roles of men and women complement each other in families.
One of the supplemental talks for the lesson was this article by Elder Ballard: The Sacred Responsibilities of Parenthood.
He expresses participating in preparing The Family: A Proclamation to the World.
Then he discusses the Adversary's attacks on the family. I was particularly struck by these paragraphs:
When
you stop and think about it from a diabolically tactical point of view,
fighting the family makes sense. When Satan wants to disrupt the work
of the Lord, he doesn’t poison the world’s peanut butter supply, thus
bringing the Church’s missionary system to its collective knees. He
doesn’t send a plague of laryngitis to afflict the Mormon Tabernacle
Choir. He doesn’t legislate against green Jell-O or casseroles. When
Satan truly wants to disrupt the work of the Lord, he attempts to
confuse gender and he attacks God’s plan for His children. He works to
drive a wedge of disharmony between a father and a mother. He entices
children to be disobedient to their parents. He makes family home
evening and family prayer inconvenient. He suggests family scripture
study is impractical. That’s all it takes, because Satan knows that the
surest and most effective way to disrupt the Lord’s work is to diminish
the effectiveness of the family and the sanctity of the home.
Look at what he accomplishes when he does that. Couples unhappy in their marriages tend not
to give appropriate gospel instruction in the home. They are less
likely to be committed to gospel principles in their own lives. Some
drift from the Church. Apathy can overcome even active members, keeping
them away from the temple and weakening their capacity to be effective
leaders and teachers—thus leaving countless lives untouched and slowing
the Lord’s work. And the Internet when not properly used is a vicious
influence in the home. So we know, without question, Lucifer is the
enemy of the family! (Elder Ballard, The Sacred Responsibilities of Parenthood, Ensign, March 2006)
Yes, so true. Why would he put so much effort into some huge plan, when he just needs to create distance and apathy in the families of the world, but specifically those even in the church. I have seen it in my ward, my extended family, and feel like I fight it all the time in my own family. Don't get me wrong, we are not constantly at each others' throats. For the most part we get along and really enjoy each other. But I can tell when we are stretched too thin, too sick, too tired, too far apart and we need to reconnect and stop the world. It takes time and diligence and effort and recognition.
When I recognize what is happening, I make us stop the world. I do not care if we are going to be late for school, church, miss a game or practice or whatever. What is most important at that place and at that time is how we feel about each other. I call us all together and talk about what each person is feeling and bring the Adversary's efforts to their attention. Sometimes we talk about why he might be targeting us at that moment (we usually have something important coming up...). We talk about how we should be acting and then what we can do to make that happen. We usually end with a prayer to ask for the Holy Ghost to help each of us. For us, it works.
Elder Ballard then shares five concepts from The Family: A Proclamation to the World that if followed will help us to ensure happy and secure families. One of his concepts is this:
A mother’s nurturing love arouses in children, from their earliest days on earth, an awakening of the memories of love and goodness they experienced in their premortal existence. Because our mothers love us, we learn, or more accurately remember, that God also loves us.
Today there is significant pressure in our materialistic world to have and spend more money. Unfortunately, this draws married mothers to work outside the home in order to provide a second income. As husbands, wives, and children recognize the difference between basic necessities and material wants, they lessen family financial burdens and contribute to helping mothers be at home. Decisions about working outside the home are difficult ones and need to be made prayerfully, keeping ever in mind the counsel of the living prophets on this complex issue. (IBID)
Then I thought about what I did today for my people:
Spike, Spike: see above, and a trip to the doctor.
Smilely: gave him ibuprofen for his headache.
Shorty: let him eat all the extra meat and make a special lunch
Sun: checked her ears, made her a doctor appointment for tomorrow, picked up her school books, braided her hair.
Speedy: Spent an hour and a half registering for school, paperwork, and photos
Sport: also spent an hour and a half registering for school, paperwork, and photos, plus extra running around.
Spanky: he did more for me today than I did for him---he actually fixed my washing machine---a huge blessing and gift, and we watched a movie together, took him to the dentist for the first time in two years.
Slim: dropped off at work and dropped his suits to the dry cleaners, so they are clean when he leaves for school.
Not that any of those things are outside of my motherly duties, but if I was otherwise occupied, with work, or friends, or social engagements or volunteer stuff or whatever..............who would have helped my people. The answer??? No one. I am a nurturer. I am their nurturer. Elder Ballard's words are amazing:
A mother’s nurturing love arouses in children, from their earliest days on earth, an awakening of the memories of love and goodness they experienced in their premortal existence. Because our mothers love us, we learn, or more accurately remember, that God also loves us.
My nurturing does that for MY children. Because I love them and nurture them, they remember that God loves them. Could anything be more important than helping my children remember, on a daily basis, that the most amazing being in the universe loves and cares about them?!
I am not just a mother, for my children, I am THE Mother, and for yours, you are (unless you are their father! :-)
The challenges of motherhood are so great, but the rewards are priceless!
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