I will continue to ponder these things and evaluate how I'm doing. I bolded things that I think I'm doing well and highlighted in pink things that I want to work on. Today I'm going to focus on giving a soft answer.
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Make our homes a safe place where each family member feels
love and a sense of belonging. Realize that each child has varying gifts
and abilities; each is an individual requiring special love and care.
- Remember, “a soft answer turneth away wrath” (Prov. 15:1). When my sweetheart and I were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple, Elder Harold B. Lee gave us wise counsel: “When you raise your voice in anger, the Spirit departs from your home.” We must never, out of anger, lock the door of our home or our heart to our children. Like the prodigal son, our children need to know that when they come to themselves they can turn to us for love and counsel.
- Spend individual time with our children, letting them choose the activity and the subject of conversation. Block out distractions.
- Encourage our children’s private religious behavior, such as personal prayer, personal scripture study, and fasting for specific needs. Measure their spiritual growth by observing their demeanor, language, and conduct toward others.
- Pray daily with our children.
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Read the scriptures together. I remember my own mother and
father reading the scriptures as we children sat on the floor and
listened. Sometimes they would ask, “What does that scripture mean to
you?” or “How does it make you feel?” Then they would listen to us as we
responded in our own words.
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Read the words of the living prophets and other inspiring articles for children, youth, and adults in Church magazines.
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We can fill our homes with the sound of worthy music as we sing together from the hymnbook and the Children’s Songbook.
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Hold family home evening every week. As parents, we are
sometimes too intimidated to teach or testify to our children. I have
been guilty of that in my own life. Our children need to have us share
spiritual feelings with them and to teach and bear testimony to them.
- Hold family councils to discuss family plans and concerns.
Some of the most effective family councils are one on one with each
family member. Help our children know their ideas are important. Listen
to them and learn from them.
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Invite missionaries to teach less-active or nonmember friends in our homes.
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Show that we sustain and support Church leaders.
- Eat together when possible, and have meaningful mealtime discussions.
- Work together as a family, even if it may be faster and easier to do the job ourselves. Talk with our sons and daughters as we work together. I had that opportunity every Saturday with my father.
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Help our children learn how to build good friendships and
make their friends feel welcome in our homes. Get to know the parents of
the friends of our children.
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Teach our children by example how to budget time and
resources. Help them learn self-reliance and the importance of preparing
for the future.
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Teach our children the history of our ancestors and of our own family history.
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Build family traditions. Plan and carry out meaningful
vacations together, considering our children’s needs, talents, and
abilities. Help them create happy memories, improve their talents, and
build their feelings of self-worth.
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By word and example, teach moral values and a commitment to obeying the commandments.
- After my baptism and confirmation, my mother drew me aside and asked, “What do you feel?” I described as best I could the warm feeling of peace, comfort, and happiness I had. Mother explained that what I was feeling was the gift I had just received, the gift of the Holy Ghost. She told me that if I lived worthy of it, I would have that gift with me continually. That was a teaching moment that has lived with me all my life.
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