Moments That Matter Most Video
Quotes:
MOTHERS
Spencer W. Kimball: “To be a righteous woman is a
glorious thing in any age. To be a righteous woman during the winding up scenes
on this earth, before the second coming of our Savior, is an especially noble
calling. The righteous woman’s strength and influence today can be tenfold what
it might be in more tranquil times.”
The role of motherhood had dramatic changes with
industrialization and urbanization in the 19th century. Prior to
industrialization, mothers and fathers worked side by side to build their
household economy, represented in the family farm or small artisan shop. With
industrialization, the work of production moved outside the home, creating a
split between work and home.
Mothers alone became the primary socializers,
educators, and caregivers of their children. Fathers were moved to the
periphery of family life as they went out into “the world” to establish
themselves as earners.
Spencer W. Kimball: “Mothers have a sacred role.
They are partners with God, as well as with their own husbands, first in giving
birth to the Lord’s spirit children, and then in rearing those children so they
will serve the Lord and keep his commandments.”
Thomas S. Monson: “One cannot remember mother and
forget God. Why? Because these two sacred persons, God and mother, partners in
creation , in love, in sacrifice, in
service, are as one.”
Bruce C. Hafen and Marie K. Hafen: “Just as a
mother’s body may be permanently marked with the signs of pregnancy and
childbirth, [the Savior] said, ‘I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands’
(1 Nephi 21:15-16). For both a mother and the Savior, those marks memorialize a
wrenching sacrifice – the sacrifice of begetting life – for her, physical
birth; for him, spiritual rebirth.”
David O. McKay: “Motherhood is the greatest
potential influence either for good or ill in human life.”
Mothers will feel profound joy and meaning in loving
and caring for children and at the same time an immense burden of
responsibility. Mothers naturally filled with great love for their children
face the relentless tasks of identifying and responding to each child’s needs
while fostering each child’s development. The amount of energy exerted in the
process can tax the physical stamina of any mother, leading her to struggle
emotionally as well as physically. Mothers may come to feel that the reality of
their experience as mothers is dramatically different than their idealization
of what motherhood would be like.
M. Russell Ballard: “…find some time for yourself
to cultivate your gifts and interests. Pick one or two things that you would
like to learn to do that will enrich your life, and make time for them. Water
cannot be drawn from an empty well, and if you are not setting aside a little
time for what replenishes you, you will have less and less to give to others,
even to your children.”
A recent study of a large sample of Latter-day
Saint parents found that a mother’s private religious behaviors – including
fasting, personal prayer, scripture study, study of other religious materials,
and thinking about religion – were a more significant influence on the quality
of her parenting than the family’s religious behaviors. Mothers who spent more
time in these activities were more likely to feel close to their children and
to be effective in providing warmth, love, and support, while setting clear and
appropriate boundaries and expectations. They were also less likely to resort
to physical coercion, verbal hostility, unreasonable punishing, indulgence, or
psychological control – all unhealthy patterns of discipline in parenting.
Barbara B. Thompson: “Remember the great love of
our Savior. He said in Isaiah 41:10, ‘Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not
dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee.’ …
Believe the Savior. He will help us. He loves us.”
There is no work in which the Lord takes greater
interest than in the nurturing and rearing of our children.
FATHERS
Ezra Taft Benson taught that a father’s calling “is
an eternal calling from which [he is] never released.”
Parenting is a work of vital, even eternal,
importance to children, families, and communities.
Fathers make a fundamental difference in parenting
across generations.
Harold B. Lee: “The most important of the Lord’s
work you and I will ever do will be within the walls of our own homes.”
Ezra Taft Benson: “God established that fathers are
to preside in the home. Fathers are to provide love, teach, and direct.”
Involved fathers bless children from the time of
birth onward. For example, preschool children whose fathers are involved and
interact positively with them display greater cognitive ability, more
individual control, and more empathy than other children. As children grow
older, positive involvement by fathers is strongly associated with fewer
behaviors involving externalizing (negative actions) and internalizing
(negative emotions). Both boys and girls who have positively involved fathers
show higher social competence and experience fewer problems in school.
A fathers’ generative engagement with children
accounted for a significant portion of their educational and occupational
attainment in young adulthood.
Howard W. Hunter: “[Fathers should] earn the
respect and confidence of [their] children through [their] loving relationship
with them.” He also suggested also that fathers should give children “time and
presence in their social, educational, and spiritual activities and
responsibilities” and provide “tender expressions of love and affection toward
children.”
A fundamental principle of fathering … is to be
present in a child’s life and consciousness, to be available and aware of a
child’s needs such that he or she develops in an atmosphere of security and
love.
Howard W. Hunter: “[a father’s leadership in family
life] requires both quantity and quality time” and that fathers give their
“time and presence in their social, educational, and spiritual activities and
responsibilities.”
To be a good father is often equated with being a
good provider. This context of material demands and management of resources in
raising a family furnishes another fundamental principle of fathering, which is
to meet a child’s temporal needs and make opportunities for him or her to grow
and develop.
"Verily I say unto you, that every man who is
obliged to provide for his own family, let him provide, and he shall in nowise
lose his crown.” (D&C 75:28)
The principle of providing for one’s family as a
father recognizes that each man is “a steward over his own property”, is
“accountable unto [God]” for that stewardship, and should administer those
resources in a manner that “is sufficient for himself and [his] family.”
(D&C 42:32)
"… fathers are responsible to provide… protection
for their families.” (Family Proclamation)
Perhaps the most important aspect of protecting
children occurs as fathers model appropriate and righteous behavior in their
own actions and choices.
[Fathers can] “actively protect their children by helping them to make wise choices about the literature they read, the movies they see, the television programs they watch, the Internet sites they visit, and the friendships they establish.”
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