Karoyln's Amazing Family

I have had the blessing of being part of a good family since the day I was born.  How my heart aches and wishes for that same opportunity for every infant coming into this world: to have loving parents and siblings who are seeking to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ.  Where ever there is righteous living there is peace, love and joy.  Where ever there is self-centered living there is strife, anger and pain.  But I also know the atonement of Christ is real and through that power he will heal any and all who come to him with full purpose of heart.

This being said, I don't believe there exists a "perfect family" anywhere out there.  We are on this earth to learn, grow and have experiences to teach us what our Heavenly Father knows we need to learn.  The Lord Jesus Christ was the only person to walk the earth who was completely perfect.  So we are either moving closer to that goal of becoming like our Savior or we are moving farther away.  Having a family that is striving with all its might to follow His example is an invaluable strength and gift to have in this journey of life!

I love family life because I can't think of any other way to refine my character faster and help me grow.  Is it an easy, painless process?  Of course not! Since when was anything truly worthwhile easy? But through working, living, struggling, laughing, praying, and studying daily as a family we can all progress closer to our Heavenly Father. And we learn the principle of MERCY is among the first to master in order to find joy in our family life: "For, if ye forgive men their trespasses your Heavenly Father will also forgive you; But if ye forgive not men their trespasses neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."   3 Nephi 13:14-15

Where else do you have more opportunities to trespass or to be trespassed than in family life? :) It is such an intimate and personal environment that there seem to be many chances for either giving or taking offense.  But there are also many more opportunities to love, to forgive, to bless, and to serve! It's simply not possible to live a truly satisfying, happy life by seeking our personal interests and wants all or even most of the time!  Self-centered life styles simply go against eternal laws as our Lord taught:  "He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." Matthew 10:39

Another one of sweetest blessings we gain, especially as parents, is through service in the home to little children.  I've noticed that many in the world prefer not to do the work it takes to care for babies and small children.  After all, where's the glory? Where's the monetary compensation?  Or perhaps even, where's my sleep?! :) And the "work" is quite constant and demanding!  But it is among the most precious work we can do for all of these very reasons.  Another powerful, unchanging principle from the Savior:  "As ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Matthew 25:40 

If we truly love the Lord with are our might, mind and strength we will rejoice in the opportunity to serve him in this capacity.  We will gradually be able to forget ourselves more and more and thereby be able to have more joy if our life.  But, you might be asking: Who will then take care of ME?!  I testify that as we put our heart and mind into serving Christ, He will take care of us FAR BETTER than we can ever take care of ourselves!  I have seen this over and over again as my husband and I have brought each of our ten children into this world and are doing our best to raise them.  We are still far from perfect, of course, but as I mentioned earlier:  We must live by the glorious principle of MERCY and GRACE daily. 

A family, with each member seeking to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, is like a lovely symphony for all to enjoy!

About the Author: Karoyln and her amazing family live in South Carolina. More about her family can be found at her blog 

Firmness of Mind Mom

"Feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do." 

 

2 Nephi 32:3

"We have a big question mark in front of us, and if we hold onto it long enough with enough faith, we can stretch it into an exclamation mark." -Sister Hammond

Lucy and David

Contrary to what people say on being full time mother, I personally feel that raising a child gives a total rich and fulfilling experience.

From the day I knew I was pregnant, I promised to myself that I will be a good mother to my boy and love him so much regardless of anything. I will be strong for my child and I want to dedicate my life to teach him the word of God so he can grow to be a man that gains favor in God eyes.

And now it’s been more than two years, my ‘used to be tiny baby’ boy has grown up a little to reach toddler years.

To be honest, looking back there are sooo… many times that I wasn’t been able to fulfill my own promises.

-              I got easily worked up and scold my boy often when he didn’t seem want to eat or follow my order to get to sleep and such.

-      There were also times when my emotion got the best of me when he was crying non stop asking me to hug him and I just ignore him totally, simply because I was trying to teach him to learn to sleep settle himself

-       Or when I raised my voice because I’m annoyed that he persisted on wanting to play with toys and watch tv when it is time to eat.

In fact, I am till now in continuous situation where I need to remind myself all the time that my boy is still very little and young, he needs more HUGS, LOVES and POSITIVE ENCOURAGEMENT rather than pushing him to strive, be more independent and growing big, strong and brave.

God helps me with His sufficient grace. Few days back I met with Jana and she reminded me that although I have made some mistakes in the past 2 years, I still have a LIFETIME of years to raise my boy in unconditional love, secure home environment whilst at the same time, nurturing good principles and values that are reflected thru my very own actions at home :) 

About the Author: Lucy and her family live in Indonesia where they are celebrating the birth of their baby girl.

The 24th of September 2001 has been the most memorable day of my life - the birth of my baby boy. It was a dream come true for me and my hubby and our enjoyment knew no bounds when the news was out. Our entire family was besides me when SAYAR was born - my parents, brother, sister-in-law, nephew. Everyone was anxious and excited on hearing the news and to hold the baby in their arms. I was probably the last one to hold him as I was unconscious when he was born. When I woke up, my mom passed on the baby to me and said "He is your son." I was overwhelmed and did not know how to react I just kept glaring at my baby.

From then on till date I have spent all my time and effort in bringing him up by trying to teach him the right way of doing things. I used to work before he was born but then I decided to quit as I wanted to cherish the moments of motherhood as I knew those were the days which would never come back again. I still recollect the days when he turned back the first time, started crawling, standing on his own, spoke ma ma, his first vaccine, haircut, first day of pre-school etc.

Every weekend as a family we three spend time together either by going for a movie, on a long drive for lunch, playing cards, chess, cricket or carom for long hours. Saturday dinner are fun and I get an off as Sayar  and his Dad decide what to order from outside. Once a year we go on a holiday for about a week to any new destination after a long discussion and have a fun-filled vacation that refreshes us and the momentum to move on is regained.


Thus, I feel that every woman on this earth should fulfill this blessing given to her by God- to be a mother. It is a fantastic feeling and an opportunity of a life time which a woman should not miss.

Life is like a pack of cards.

When u r in love it is HEARTS.

When u r engaged it is DIAMONDS.

When u r married and have children it is FLOWERS.

About the author: Minisha and her husband are from Mumbi, Indian. They have recently moved with their son to Singapore. Minisha enjoys cooking and teaching as a private tutor. Her husband is a Vice-President at a bank. They enjoy spending time with their family and friends.

New Motherhood

I love playing with my kids. For a moment I shut out all the other tasks that are begging to be done and just be with my kids. My four year old and I trade off who is the teacher/mom and who is the student/daughter. It melts my heart when  Ainslie is the mom and she calls me "sweetie," asked me how my day went and gives me a big hug.

I love the funny pretend names she comes up with, Brenice, Sasha andTasha, Blinken. I love hearing my baby laugh and looking into her pure eyes as experiences the wonder of the world. We had so much fun the other day playing with the neighbor's dogs through the back fence. All we could see was it's little black nose poking through a knot hole and Evelyn couldn't get enough of it. I thought she might burst with happiness. I'm in the stage where I am my children's whole world. I feel lucky that I am the one who gets to experience each new thing with them. Glad that for this moment I can shield them from pain that they will inevitably face and look forward to the people they will become.

I love that being a mom helps me become the person I've always wanted to be. The challenges I face as a mom help me identify and work to change my weaknesses.  I remember as a young mom being so impatient when my little baby kept me from eating, sleeping or using the bathroom when I wanted. When my second child came I was amazed that I had developed the ability to put my personal needs on hold to meet the needs of my children. 

I still have lots of rough edges to get worked off. Becoming a more caring, selfless person is one of my greatest life goals and my children are helping get better each day. When I look at my own parents I see two very good hearted people, whose pure intentions and love for God were really the only guides they had to be good parents. They never gave up and worked tirelessly and selfless on what they've always regards as their greatest treasure. I've seen that their efforts have been multiply many times. Family is truly one of those synergistic activities. Although on the microscopic day to day level it is sometimes difficult to see, when I look back to my family of origin of my parents I see the outcome of their diligent efforts are even greater than the input.

About the Author: Janae recently finished a Master degree in Public Administration. She lives with her husband and two kids in Utah where her husband works as a lawyer. She enjoys working with non-profit organizations in her community.

Eight is great!

I have always dreamed of having a big family. As a young girl I cared for my dolls, as a older teen I cared for other children. Now as a mother of 6 happy, active, and inspiring children; my dream is coming true.

This is my crew. We spend quite a bit of time together each day learning together and facing life's joys and sorrows together.

What do I love about Motherhood?

Well, at first I loved rocking the baby to sleep. Seeing the eyes flutter shut and the baby slip off the slip was always a reward for a long day of hard work.

Then I loved seeing the personality develop. I actually love when the baby says her first definite "NO". It is interesting when she has preferences and the world starts to open to her.

I love to see my impulsive 3 year old become a more confident 4 year old who no longer wants to be a baby... most of the time.

I love the first day of school when the 5 year old picks up the backpack and with one last glance at the front door marches off to meet the world, brave and independent.

The first soccer win, the first loss, the first crush, the first love note...

All of these parts of life give meaning to each day. I was raised by a mother who decided she wanted to do everything right as a mother. She lived in a classic dysfunctional home. She and my father decided that they wanted something different and set out to create something new for their family. Things were not always perfect but they never gave up. They were surprised by unexpected hardships. Very early in their marriage a severely mentally handicapped son was born. As they worked through each experience their love and commitment to their family grew. Now, many years later, I have received an amazing example of love and devotion to family from my parents which I hope to pass on to future generations.

Lesson learned: We don't have to be perfect we just have to be persistent.

About the Author: Jana and her family are enjoying seeing the world as the travel with her husband with work. Her goal is to visit all the continents of the world. She enjoys reading, traveling and spending time with her family.

Rejoicing in life

The essence of who we are is reflected in our relationships with others. Family is the basic unit of society. In our family relationship we come to understand who we are and hopefully we help each other reach our highest potential.  Share with us you favorite learnings from you family life.