Moral Discipline

This talk touched on some of the tender questions of my heart, so my post is quite personal. My husband will be going to school full time in the fall. His little business slows down more and more all the time, and simply is not adequate to support our little family. I wonder how we'll scrape by. I never thought we'd be living on a poor college student income after 11 years of marriage and four children. This wasn't my plan. So, I've pondered adding twelve more students to my already busy piano teaching pool of twenty-two. Doing so would mean I'd only see my two older children at breakfast and from 6:00 pm until bedtime, four days a week. I feel strongly that it's a husband's responsibility to provide and a mother's responsibility to nurture. However, I recognize that not every situation is ideal, and even ideal situations are not ideal all the time. I have conflicting thoughts. I trust that if it's the Lord's will that I add more students, he'll help me manage my time and bless my children to endure it well. But, the idea of spending so little time with my children breaks my heart. I already feel like an inadequate parent to my three beautiful girls & adding one more to the mix in July is only going to add to that challenge. The hope of my heart is that it's the Lord's will that I keep the nurturing of my children as my highest priority and that he will provide. The sons of the people of Ammon were taught that, ". . .if they did not doubt, God would deliver them." (Alma 56:47). Can I choose to be believing, put God first, and trust that somehow things will work out?

In his talk Elder Christofferson says, "In the end, it is only an internal moral compass in each individual that can effectively deal with the root causes as well as the symptoms of societal decay." Then a few lines later, "Moral discipline is learned at home." I would add, by mothers who nurture, (and fathers who provide but also see themselves as equal partners with their wives).

Later, "Each must be persuaded that service and sacrifice for the well-being and happiness of others are far superior to making one's own comfort and possessions the highest priority... There must be constant teaching, mostly by example."

This last part reminded me of a talk I read, but now can't find. I think it was by one of the brothren, who said that quality time with our children stems from quantity time.

Finally, "Our aim must be for [our children] to become truly converted to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ while they are with us. . .Then they will have gained a strength from what they are, not only from what they know. They will become disciples of Christ."

I love President MacKay's statement that no other success can compensate for failure in the home. In my eyes, nothing matters more than being a successful parent. In the end, I feel that I cannot adequately teach and nurture my children unless I spend adequate amounts of time with them. I'm still searching, pondering, & praying over this heart felt question. But, I know what I hope the right choice is.

Up next: Repent that I may heal you by Neil L. Andersen