Pam gave a really great lesson about how to be a courageous parent. One of the first things she referred to is the 5 Steps to Fortify our Youth which are
1. Family Prayer
2. Family Scripture Study
3. Family Home Evening
4. Family Dinner
5. Personal Interviews
She quoted Joe Christiansen by saying "Parenting isn't a popularity contest". Sometimes parents are afraid to counsel children because they don't want to offend them, or they want to seem like they are "buddies" with their kids and are afraid their Parenting will ruin that friendship. When you take the easy way out by saying nothing you may be enabling wrong behavior. President Packer said "When Morality is involved, we have a right and responsibility to step in and teach. To be a courageous parent we need to start when they are young. Margaret Wilde said that her mom was always at the crossroads for her. It takes time to teach, takes time to get to know our children, know their friends, listen to their music, read their books, takes time to go places together. Take time to talk about rules and guidelines. Quoting from the April Ensign, "Scriptures are parenting manuals from our Heavenly Father."
Pam closed her lesson by asking us to read a poem by C.C. Miller titled The Echo so I posted it here:
| 'Twas a sheep not a lamb That strayed away in the parable Jesus told, A grown-up sheep that strayed away From the ninety and nine in the fold. And why for the sheep should we seek And earnestly hope and pray? Because there is danger when sheep go wrong: They lead the lambs astray. Lambs will follow the sheep, you know, Wherever the sheep may stray. When sheep go wrong, It won't take long till the lambs are as wrong as they. And so with the sheep we earnestly plead For the sake of the lambs today, For when sheep are lost, What a terrible cost The lambs will have to pay Thanks Pam for that great lesson! |
