Children are a sacred inheritance from god. How blessed we are to inherit these precious spirits. God trusts us enough to parent his children, what a magnificent wonder. One of the purposes of parenting is to raise God’s children in a way that he would raise us, if He were here. Another purpose is to teach them the Gospel truth, and help them gain a testimony of Christ. He is central to the Gospel, if we don’t have a testimony in him, I’m not sure how we can make it in this life-it would be impossible. A man once said that the purpose of parenting is:
to protect and prepare.
to survive and thrive in the world in which they live.
I like this because it endorses the idea of active parenting. It also implies that someday they will be leaving the nest and we have to help prepare them for that day. We have to teach our children to be independent and not to rely on us the rest of their lives. We don’t want to teach them just how to survive, but how to thrive? We want our children to be successful and have joy, it is our job to help open those possibilities to them.
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One of my biggest fears has always been having a wayward sibling or child. An article titled, “We Believe in the Ministering of Angels,” gave me comfort to know that we have ancestors on the other side who are called to redeem these children from their lost and fallen state. The Lord is very aware of all of his wayward children and he will actively call people from the other side to rescue them. As parents it is our sacred duty is to raise our children in the Gospel in a loving home where the spirit can dwell. It is not necessarily our fault if we have a wayward child. We need not worry about trying to rescue them if they are wayward. Our role as parents is to offer them refuge when they choose to come unto us. The Lord and his ministering angels are on the other side working to bring them back. We need to respect our children’s agency, but also have hope and continually pray that they will come back again.
I hope I could shed some light on parenting. Feel free to comment and share your ideas of parenting.
-Rachael
http://ldsmag.com/article-1-11837/
Family, The New Trend. 