Home is Where We...

So I have been going through my college bin, looking at what assignments, talks, articles etc that I had saved. I came across one of my favorite classes, home decor! The first assignment of the class was to answer the question, "Home is where we..." Have you ever thought how to answer that question if you were asked? You could substitute many things in here, like marriage is...motherhood is....fatherhood is... and so on. Why not take the time to write it down, I find that reflecting on questions helps me to realize where my priorities are and where I want them to be. So here goes my list.

 Home is where we...
1. Are taught and teach our own children that God loves them. They are His children. He is their Father and He knows them individually.

2. Learn and teach our children that marriage is ordained of God and essential to His plan of happiness. We are created in the image of God. We each have a different plan, different struggles, but we have been given ways to make it through life and become who God knows we can be.

3. Gender is essential to God's plan, and we existed before as we do now, as a male or female...that never changed.

4. Learn and are reminded of premortal life (or life before we came to earth). We worshiped God and chose to follow His plan. Which meant we would come to this earth to gain a body and experience trials and tests that, with our choosing, will either bring us closer to Christ or farther away.

5. Learn that we can be an eternal family.

6. Teach our children about the sacred way in which children are created and that that sacred power is only to be shared between husband and wife after they are married. Teach it is a sacred thing that the world portrays as only for pleasure and getting gain.

7. Teach our children the wonderful roles of being a husband and wife, father and mother. Raise our children in love and righteousness. They learn rules, respect, discipline but in a way that is firm and fair, not degrading or abusive.

8. Help our children see how wonderful marriage is and children. Help them see that fidelity in marriage is vital and possible.

9.  Learn to pray, study scripture, keep the commandments, follow Christ and come to know Him.

10. Teach our children to stand up for what they know is right, even if it means standing alone. That means as parents you are committing to always stand up for the right even if you stand alone, because what you do speaks louder than what you say.

11. Learn to have fun together, to serve, learn to laugh, love, enjoy life!