Strengthening and Preserving the
Family
March 9, 2014
as taught by Vicky Drummond
Sister Drummond started her lesson by asking us if we carry
insurance whether it be car, medical, life etc. How do we pay for all of these
insurance monthly, quarterly? Most are able to take them right out of our
paychecks or bank accounts.
She gave the definition of insurances out of the dictionary:
Emphatic declaration, guarantee, certainty, self-confidence. Basically this
protects us from things that happen unexpected in our lives. We hope we never
have to us it. Then she told us there is
another kind of insurance that also protect us.
Sister Drummond offered the following story out of the
Teachings of Joseph Fielding Smith:
The family is the most important organization in time or
in eternity.
“May
I remind you of just how important the family unit is in the overall plan of
our Father in Heaven. In fact, the Church organization really exists to assist
the family and its members in reaching exaltation.
Family
unity and family commitment to the gospel are so important that the adversary
has turned much of his attention to the destruction of families in our society.
On every side there is an attack on the basic integrity of the family as the
foundation of what is good and noble in life. … Liberalization of abortion
laws throughout the world suggests the existing disregard for the sacredness of
life. Families are torn apart by increasing use of illegal drugs and the abuse
of legal drugs. Contempt for authority by more and more young people usually
begins with disrespect and disobedience in homes. …
As
the forces of evil attack the individual by tearing away at his family roots,
it becomes critical for Latter-day Saint parents to maintain and strengthen the
family. There may possibly be a few very strong individuals who can survive
without the support of a family, but more of us need the love, teaching, and
acceptance that come from those who care very deeply.”
She poses this
question: What is attacking the family?
Some of the sister’s comments:
Women being attacked
because of their roles in the home of nurturing and being the glue in the home
Teenager pressure
Constant media
pressures so to be a certain size and shape. Judging the outside of the box instead of the
inside.
Not feeling
comfortable letting your kids play outside.
Sister Drummond went on to say our doors are being beaten
down by negative influences in the world. It’s very hard as parents to even
know where to begin to keep our family safe from the outside world.
She then asks the
sisters, “Why is Satan attacking the family?”
Comments from the sisters:
People are having
children out of wedlock. There is usually no father figure in the home. The mom
is trying to do it all by herself and gets very overwhelmed. With only one
parent it’s hard to teach right from wrong.
As mothers we have
such an effect on our children and if it isn’t a positive one children can be
easily swayed in a different direction. It is so important that we give our
children a strong foundation.
Sometimes we think if
a movie is PG it will be a wholesome movie for our families to watch not always
the case.
Sister Drummonds goes
on to talk about a different kind of insurance what about our spiritual
insurance can we buy it? What card do we carry in our wallet that is our
spiritual insurance? Our temple recommend is our spiritual assurance card. It’s
not issued from an insurance company?
Heavenly Father assures us that if we live worthy and follow the
commandments. Our families will be protected.
Here are some scriptures that talk about assurance in our
lives.
Moses 1:39
Romans 8:16-18
D&C 136:11
What assurances do these scriptures give us?
Eternal life, heirs of god, glorified, blessed, reunite with
family.
Vicky expresses how thankful she is to know she will be
reunited with her father that passed away at a young age. She talked about her
father and what a rough life he had. He was beaten by his step father and his
step brother for years. One day he decided he had enough and was going to
leave. Before he left he told his step
father he would back when he was bigger and stronger to pay him back for what
he had done to him. He became a very
strong man. He became a cop. One day he decide to pay that visit he promised to
his step father. He went and knocked on
the door but when the man answered the door he began to raise his hand then
stopped. He couldn’t do it he felt sorry for him. They didn’t become best
friends but my father got peace and closure to a part of his life that was not
a pleasant time for him. Vicky expressed her love and appreciation for her
father that he let go of the anger he had felt and could now have that peace.
“We should remember, as
Latter-day Saints, that outside of the celestial kingdom, there is no family
organization [after death]. That organization is reserved for those who are
willing to abide in every covenant and every obligation which we are called
upon to receive while we sojourn here in this mortal life.”
We
strengthen and preserve our families as we spend time together, love each
other, and live the gospel together.
“Do you spend as much time
making your family and home successful as you do in pursuing social and
professional success? Are you devoting your best creative energy to the most
important unit in society—the family? Or is your relationship with your family
merely a routine, unrewarding part of life? Parent and child must be willing to
put family responsibilities first in order to achieve family exaltation.”
I want to tell you a story about a little boy.
A father came home from work late, tied and irritated, to
find his 5 year old son waiting for him at the door.
Son: Father, may I ask you a question?”
Father replied: “Yeah sure, what is it?”
Son: “Father, how much do you make an hour”?
Father said angrily: “That’s none of your business. Why do
ask such a thing?”
Son: “I just wanted to know. Please tell me, how much do you
make an hour?”
Father: “If you must know $20 an hour.”
“Oh,” the little boy replied, with is head down. Looking up,
he said, “Father, may I please borrow $10?”
The father was furious, “If the only reason you asked that
is so you can barrow some money to buy a silly toy or something then you march
yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so
selfish. I work every day for such childish behavior.”
The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. Father
sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy’s questions. How
dare he ask such questions only to get money? After about an hour or so, the
father had calmed down, and started to think: Maybe there was something he
really needed to buy with that $10 and he really didn’t ask for money that
often.
The father went to the door of the little boy’s room and
opened the door.
“Are you asleep, son?” Father asked.
“No Father, I am awake,” replied the little boy.
I have been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier,
said the father. It’s been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you.
Here’s the$ 10you asked for.
The little boy sat straight up, smiling. “Oh, thank you Father!”
He yelled.
Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled
up bills.
The father seeing the little boy already had money, started
to get angry again.
The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked
up at his father.
“Why do you want more money if you already have some?” the
father grumbled.
“Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do,” the little boy
replied.
“Father, I have $20 now. Can I buy and hour of your time?
Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.”
Moral of the Story: Share this story with someone you like…
But even better, share $20 worth of time with someone you love. It’s just a
short reminder to all of you working so hard in life.
We should not let time slip through our fingers without
having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our
hearts.
If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for
could easily replace us in a matter of days.
But the family and friends we leave behind will feel the
loss for the rest of their lives. And come to think of it, we pour ourselves
more into work than to our family. An unwise investment indeed!
We must commit ourselves to our family at all cost, so how
do we commit ourselves to our Heavenly Father: by keeping the commandments,
serving others, doing our callings, reading our scriptures, praying. These are
our insurances that we will receive His eternal assurances.
“If I had to
suggest one thing which I think we as parents are most lacking, it would be a
sympathetic understanding of our children. Live with the children; follow their
paths. … Know everything that claims the interest of the children, be a good
sport with them.
We
have been trying to impress upon parents the need of paying more attention to
their children, having a little more of the spirit of the gospel in their
homes, a little more unity and a little more faith; a little more
responsibility religiously, spiritually on the part of the fathers; also, of
the mothers; more of the teaching of the gospel in the home.”
Sister Drummond closes with this story:
The story goes back some time ago, a father punished his
3-year-old daughter for wasting a roll of gold wrapping paper. Money was tight
and he became infuriated when the little girl tried to decorate a box.
Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift to her father the next morning
and said, "This is for you, Father."
The father was embarrassed by his earlier over reaction, but his
anger flared again when he found out the box was empty. Father yelled at his
3-year-old daughter, stating, "Don't you know, when you give someone a
present (gift), there is supposed to be something inside? The little girl looked
up at him with tears in her eyes and cried, "Oh, Father, it's not empty at
all. I blew kisses into the box. They're all for you, Father."
The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little girl,
and he begged for her forgiveness.
Only a short time later, an accident took the life of his little
girl. It is also told that her father kept that gold box by his bed for many
years and, whenever he was discouraged, he would take out an imaginary kiss and
remember the love of his little girl who had put it there.
Sister Drummond then showed us a pretty little box. She opened it
and it was empty. She told us it was full of all the wonderful gifts from our
Heavenly Father. If we just do our part we will have eternal life and be with
our families for eternity.
