Notes from September Mother’s Meeting:
A big thanks goes to Angie Peterson for hosting September Mother’s meeting in her home and to Rochelle Lloyd for coming and speaking to us about coming closer to Christ individually and with our families.
1st of all – a random enjoyable quote from Rochelle Lloyd, “At my home I don’t have any teenagers and never will. Teenagers have a bad reputation in our society. I expect something greater than what society expects for them. I have young men that are in training to become men and young women in training to become women.”
Ok-on to the fabulous thoughts shared by Rochelle:
*We are bombarded by stress in our society – inside and outside the home. There are wars, national debt, loss of jobs & homes, fighting and rebellion at home. The devil loves this – he loves complexity and chaos.
*But – God says, “Come unto me and I will give you rest.” “Be still and know that I am God.” “Ask and ye shall receive-seek and ye shall find.” The spirit brings hope, peace, & the knowledge of what we need to do and how to do it.
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We are children of God! Once that is rooted deep with us we can understand what he wants for us. We must be willing to bend our will to God’s. “Council with the Lord in all thy doings and he shall direct thee for good.”
*The manner in which we follow God’s commandments shows our spiritual state. (referenced story in Book of Mormon in which Alma, who is tired and hungry, returned
speedily to Ammonihah when commanded by an angel.)
*Sometimes the things God asks of us are hard. (Alma & Amulek had to watch the people and records being burned in the fire.) God can see the bigger picture and knows best. Bend our will to his.
*Mary, mother of Jesus was a wonderful example of bending her will to God’s. She:
-was willing to become an unwed mother.
-taught Jesus and watched him grow up.
-saw people love and hate him.
-watched him mocked, scorned, and killed.
-when Heavenly Father left Jesus at the end so he could complete what he needed to do alone, Mary still stood as support for her son at the cross, knowing that he was innocent and perfect.
She bent her will to God’s and later the scriptures record that she had great joy in his resurrection as an angel told her to go tell the disciples that he had risen.
Bending our will to God’s brings us great joy in the end.
*Remember Elder Oak’s talk from a previous conference about priorities for our family. There are so many good choices and we need to choose the better and best opportunities and priorities for our families.
*Do not run faster than we have strength.
*Do things in wisdom and order.
*Comparison to Weight Lifting: To develop your muscles you add more and more weight that you lift. If you lift too much weight your muscles will tear. Everyone has different limits and God will help us to know what ours are if we listen. Also, we should not judge others by how much weight they are carrying.
*What are we doing to prepare our children for the Lord?
- Do they know that they are children of God?
- Do they know how to bend their will to the Lord?
We have to be a good example!
At this time we need stripling warriors and to get them we need stripling parents.
*We (as parents) are stewards of these children that are God’s children too.
-They have to do hard things. It is hard to watch them go through those hard things but it would not be good for us to take them away if
we could. We should council, guide, and love and
then watch them, like Mary watched Jesus, becoming what Heavenly Father wants them to become.
Ruth Hansen
Field Trip Coordinator - graciously took notes at the September Mother's Meeting.
