I knew it was only a matter of time as our Sundays left were quickly fleeting. Several weeks ago, I was asked to give a talk, but for the coming Sunday. I told him that I would gladly give a talk, but I needed at least 2 weeks to prepare. A few Sunday pass, without any word. I thought maybe I had gotten out of it, but sure enough, they asked again and I had 2 weeks.
So I pulled out all our books and wasn't finding any info, well, not any info that I wanted to share. The days were passing and I found a few talks online, but due to needy children, they sat on the desk waiting to be read. The Saturday before came too fast. I hadn't even touched those pages since they had been printed. How was I going to get out of this talk? I was so upset. How was 2 weeks not long enough? I began reading over the talks and to my horror, of the four, 2 were the same! At this point, I was ready to give up and considered calling to cancel. But I didn't. I gave my talk and a friend asked me to post it so she could read it again, so here it is:
If I were asked who my favorite teacher was, I would probably say my law professor at John Jay. But as I was preparing for this talk, I came across a quote by President Monson, “
She may not have used a chalkboard nor possessed a college degree, but her lessons were everlasting and her concern genuine. Yes, I speak of Mother. In reality, every parent is a teacher.” She is indeed my favorite teacher and I’m still learning from her. Like, she ALWAYS knows what will and won’t be a good recipe. I’m always asking her advice and when I don’t listen, I wish I had!
My days are long and hard, with three kids, I’m utterly exhausted at the end of the day and my patience wears thin. My mother, on the other hand, who wakes up too early for work, approaches the end of her day with a much different attitude. As she walks through the door, late I might add, she is bombarded with three excited grandkids and a daughter desperate for an adult conversation. But as stressful as her day was, she always has the time to give at least one hug out to everyone and manages a conversation with the girls. My mother is a wonderful teacher and a great example.
More often my days end with a story similar to the one recounted by Monson about a little boy named Johnny...
Johnny tugged his father’s pant leg, “Daddy, tell me a story.”
Dad said, “Johnny, you run on for a little while, and after I have read the sports page you come back and then I’ll tell you a story.”
He tugged again. “Daddy, tell me a story now.”
Dad looked down at Johnny and wondered what in the world he could do to shake him just for a few minutes. Then he looked on the end table and there was a magazine, and he had an idea. On the front cover of the magazine was a picture of the world. He tore the cover off that magazine and shredded it in about sixteen pieces. He handed it to little Johnny and said, “Johnny, let’s play a game. You take these pieces and go in the other room and get the tape and you put this world together, and when you have put it together properly, then I will tell you a story.”
Johnny accepted the challenge, and off he ran, and Dad settled back very pleased with himself. He knew that he could now read the sports page. But only a moment had passed, and here was Johnny again tugging at his pant leg.
“Daddy,” said Johnny, “I have put it together.”
Dad looked down and saw those sixteen pieces, each one in its proper place. He felt that he had a genius. He turned to his little boy, and said, “John, my boy, how in the world did you do it?”
Johnny sort of ducked his head and replied, “Well, it wasn’t too hard, Dad. Turn the picture of the world over.” As he turned the cover over, Johnny said, “You see, on the back of the cover is the picture of a home. I just put the home together, and the world took care of itself.”
The first and foremost opportunity for teaching lies in the home. ET Sullivan wrote, “When God wants a great work done in the world or a great wrong righted, he goes about it in a very unusual way. He doesn’t stir up his earthquakes or send forth his thunderbolts. Instead, he has a helpless baby born, perhaps in a simple home and of some obscure mother. And then God puts the idea into the mother’s heart, and she puts it into the baby’s mind. And then God waits. The greatest forces in the world are babies.” Those babies, will become forces for good or ill, depending in large measure on how they are reared.
The Lord said, in D&C 3:40, “I have commanded you to bring up your children in light and truth.” Heavenly Father has entrusted us to care for His children and it is our duty as parents to teach them. He warns, “D&C 68: 25 And again, inasmuch as parents have children in Zion, or in any of her stakes which are organized, that teach them not to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands, when eight years old, the sin be upon the heads of the parents.”
When I was assigned this topic a few years ago, Kaity and Abby were 2 and 1 respectively. Attempting to teach them gospel stories resulted in little more than blank stares, some days it seemed pointless, but we strived to pray together daily. As they get older, teaching them about the gospel has become not only easier but also fun as they begin to understand what I’m saying. Being able to have a conversation encourages me to share more. Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old he will not depart from it.” And according to a prominent scientist, “What is placed in the child’s brain during the first six years of life is probably there to stay…if you put misinformation into his brain, it is extremely difficult to erase it.
An integral part of teaching is being an example. They pick up EVERYTHING. I find that much of my childrens’ annoying behaviors’ are just a reflection of my own. They whine quite often. How do I respond? I didn’t notice til recently, but my tone is rather whiney. How can I teach my children without setting the proper example? I’m not very organized and more often than I care to admit, I run out of diapers...on Sunday. So I find myself having to run to the drug store.
President Monson counseled us that as teachers for our children we need to Live Truth. H. Verlan Andersen, of the General Authority allowed his son to borrow the car for a date Saturday evening. As he obtained the car keys and headed for the door, his father said, “The car will need more gas before tomorrow. Be sure to fill the tank before coming home.” At his funeral, Elder Andersen’s son related that evening’s activity. In his exuberance, however, he failed to follow his father’s instruction and add fuel to the car’s tank before returning home.
Sunday morning dawned. Elder Andersen discovered the gas gauge showed empty. The son saw his father put the car keys on the table. In the Andersen family the Sabbath day was a day for worship and thanksgiving, and not for purchases. As the funeral message continued, Elder Andersen’s son declared, “I saw my father put on his coat, bid us good-bye, and walk the long distance to the chapel, that he might attend an early meeting.” Duty called. Truth was not held slave to expedience. In concluding his funeral message, Elder Andersen’s son said, “No son ever was taught more effectively by his father than I was on that occasion. My father not only knew the truth, but he also lived it.”
Behold your little ones. Pray with them. Pray for them and bless them. The world into which they are moving is a complex and difficult world. They will run into heavy seas of adversity. They will need all the strength and all the faith you can give them while they are yet near you. And they will also need a greater strength, which comes of a higher power. They must do more than go along with what they find. They must lift the world, and the only levers they will have are the example of their own lives and the powers of persuasion that will come of their testimonies and their knowledge of the things of God. They will need the help of the Lord. While they are young, pray with them that they may come to know that source of strength, which shall then always be available in every hour of need.
