The Importance of Family

"The most important cause of our lifetime is our families. If we will devote ourselves to this cause, we will improve every other aspect of our lives and will become, as a people and as a church, an example and a beacon for all peoples of the earth."

—M. Russell Ballard, "That the Lost May Be Found"

My family means the world to me.  We have been through a lot together.  We have learned together, played together and grown even closer together.  I have children who are now grown, many with children of their own, and we have the last three teenagers, still at home.  

I was talking to one of my customers today at the Post Office, and she was sharing with me how much she loves the relationship that she has now, with her grown children.  And how very different it is to mother them as they grow older.  I agree so much.  I love babies and children, I enjoy most of my time with teenagers, but I really love the friendships that I have developed with my children once they are grown and gone from the nest.  

Our opportunities to love and support each other do not go away with the diapers and the dishes and the laundry.  Now, I can take the time to listen and to love and encourage.  Now I get to hear their problems and the difficulties and their trials.  Now they actually might ask for advice (such a thing was never heard of when they were younger, as a matter of fact, if I wanted them to do something, I told them to do the opposite!)

My family means so much to me.  I can't begin to explain how my heart fills with more and more love as the years go by.  I enjoy getting to know each of them as adults.  I believe in devoting myself to the cause of family.  I believe in always letting them know how much they are loved and needed in my life.  No matter what path they choose, I believe that God shared them with me to love, to honor and to cherish, for all the days of their lives and long into the eternities. 

My family, are each gifts and joys in their own way.  They are each a blessing and a comfort.  They are my children and my friends.  My Heavenly Father has taught me to love through the service to my family.  I am filled with gratitude each time I think of them and remember their unique attributes.