Today’s Reading: Alma 58-59
9 And now as Moroni had supposed that there should be men sent to the city of Nephihah, to the assistance of the people to maintain that city, and knowing that it was easier to keep the city from falling into the hands of the Lamanites than to retake it from them, he supposed that they would easily maintain that city.
My Mission President would often say: “It’s better to prepare and prevent than to repair and repent”. In other words, It is easier to protect something from loss or damage than it is to restore it.
I tend to get busy. I work two part-time jobs, I have two volunteer positions (including writing for this blog), and I have a calling. Oh. . .and I’m a stay-at-home mom. Admittedly, sometimes the Mom thing really does end up coming last. Sadly, I sometimes think: “I don’t have time to play with my kids, teach my daughter to read, or help her ride a bike.” Sometimes I even get irritated by my 4-year-old’s non-sense conversations and odd questions. But then I have to stop and think: “where do I want to be in a dozen years when my girls are teenagers?” The answer: I want to have a strong relationship with them. I want them to still spend time with us as a family. I want them to tell me when they’re struggling. I want them to cry on my shoulder. I want them to make good choices including attending the temple and reading their scriptures.
The thing is–if I want those sweet dreams to become a reality, I need to prepare now. Otherwise, I will find myself in the painful position of having to pick up the pieces of our relationship when they’re teens. If I want a strong relationship with them later, I need to lay the foundation while they’re young:
- If I want to spend time with them later, I need to spend time with them now.
- If I want them to come to me with their grievances, mistakes, and dilemmas, I need to listen to them now (no matter how goofy and long-winded their conversations may be)!
- If I want them to make righteous choices later, I need to teach them by precept and example now.
Ben B. Banks, a member of the quorum of the seventy, quoted Richard Evans by saying:
Our plea is for parents to take the time it takes to draw near to the children God has given them. Let there be love at home. Let there be tenderness and teaching and caring for and not a shifting of responsibility onto others. God grant that we may never be too busy to do the things that matter most, for ‘Home makes the man’[i].
As mothers with children at home, our stories have yet to unfold. I pray that we will do the things that matter most–that we will “prepare and prevent” that we may not know the sorrow of having to “repair and repent”.
After growing up in the bitter cold of Alberta Canada and serving a mission in the scalding heat of Tucson Arizona, I finally settled for the “moderate” climate of Utah. I met my best friend and love of my life at BYU where I received my degree in Marriage and Family Studies. I stay at home with my two little girls, teach marriage classes with my husband, and run an alumni Facebook group. I love to write, bake, travel, teach, and feast upon the words of Christ, but my favorite happy thought of all is going on weekly dates with my husband!