I was thinking that I should be going to bed but I just read this talk and I wanted to write down my favorite parts. It was spoken back in 1974 by President Spencer W. Kimball at a General Conference. It is called, Ocean Currents and Family Influences.
"It is important for us also to cultivate in our own family a sense that we belong together eternally, that whatever changes outside our home, there are fundamental aspects of our relationship which will never change."
"How long has it been since you took your children, whatever their size, in your arms and told them that you love them and are glad that they can be yours forever? How long has it been since you husbands or wives purchased an inexpensive gift as a surprise for your spouse for no other reason than just to please? How long has it been since you brought home a rose or baked a pie with a heart carved in the crust or did some other thing to make life more aglow with warmth and affection?
If there is to be a contribution to the building fund or the Red Cross or a Saturday morning spent helping the elders quorum paint a widow’s house, make sure the children are aware of it, and if it is feasible, let them have a share in the decision-making and in the implementation of the decision. All the family could attend the baptism, confirmation, and ordination of a member of the family. All of the family could root for a son who is on the ball team. All meet regularly in home evenings, at mealtime, at prayer time. Perhaps all of the family could pay tithing together, and each learns by precept and example the beautiful principle."
"It is essential that we really speak to the Lord, having faith that he will reveal to us as parents what we need to know and do for the welfare of our families."
"And we should not overlook the fact that, particularly in the absence of the father, a mother may pray with her children and call down the Lord’s blessings upon them. She does not act by virtue of priesthood conferred upon her, but by virtue of her God-given responsibility to govern her household in righteousness."
"I know that the Lord lives—that God who was with Adam, that God who came to the banks of the Jordan River to say, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 13:17), to introduce his Son to a world that was to depend so completely on him. I know that was the God that we worship, who came on the Mount of Transfiguration and said again to those servants, Peter, James, and John, who were to carry on the work of the Lord even in their imperfections: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 17:5), the same God—we know he lives and exists—who came in the state of New York and said those same things that he had already said to the Nephites—and now said to a world that had been traveling in darkness for a long, long time—“This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!” (JS—H 1:17.)
I know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. I know that. I know that the gospel which we teach is the gospel of Jesus Christ and the church to which we belong is the church of Jesus Christ; it teaches his doctrines and his policies and his programs. I know that if all of us will live the program as he has given it and will continue to give it, that all the blessings promised will be ours."
"I know that the Lord lives—that God who was with Adam, that God who came to the banks of the Jordan River to say, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 13:17), to introduce his Son to a world that was to depend so completely on him. I know that was the God that we worship, who came on the Mount of Transfiguration and said again to those servants, Peter, James, and John, who were to carry on the work of the Lord even in their imperfections: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 17:5), the same God—we know he lives and exists—who came in the state of New York and said those same things that he had already said to the Nephites—and now said to a world that had been traveling in darkness for a long, long time—“This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!” (JS—H 1:17.)
I know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. I know that. I know that the gospel which we teach is the gospel of Jesus Christ and the church to which we belong is the church of Jesus Christ; it teaches his doctrines and his policies and his programs. I know that if all of us will live the program as he has given it and will continue to give it, that all the blessings promised will be ours."
Those are the quotes that stood out to me a lot. I was picturing a family that is a family that God wants. He wants us to be one with Him. It always starts with the individual and then the family. When we are one with our family then we can start adding our ward and stakes and so forth. The prophets have always said that is what we need to strive for. When I think of that being realistic it gets me excited and I feel hope that it is possible. We aren't going to be perfect but at least we can strive for it.
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