What makes a strong family?

Here are some ideas that will strengthen your family:

• Everyone needs to feel love—freely give hugs, kisses, “I love yous” and expressions of love.
• Families need to understand sacrifice—parents have no business giving everything to their children, and children have no business asking incessantly for everything.  Birthdays and Christmas should be simple and special.  The “I wants” should be minimized.  Cutting back, doing without, and having accepting attitudes should be instilled in every household.
• Moms and Dads need to be able to play with their children—and children need to be willing to play with mom and dad.  Laugh together.  Play together.  EAT TOGETHER, and talk together always.
• The “Jones Family” does not exist.
• Parents need to continue dating and romancing one another, especially AFTER the kids come along.  Find a way, go out of your way, and do it regularly.
• Communication is the biggest problem in marriages and families.  Couples need to be willing to talk about ANYTHING!  Get everything out on the table, but be kind about it.  Do not avoid things, work it out.  Be willing to give and take.  Parents need to teach children how to communicate.  Open the lines at every opportunity.  Listen with your ears, not your mouth.  Parents are not “friends” and friends are not “parents”, honor the proper authority.
• The church has provided standards that should be followed, obeyed, and used as backup for parents’ rules.  The world is an unpredictable and wicked place.  Not everyone is “doing it”.  Parents have the sole responsibility of safeguarding their children.  No one else will do it, should do it, or wants to do it.
• Do not let anything as insignificant as money be your family’s downfall.  Be wise, be a team player, work with what you make, sacrifice and save always, share, be trustworthy.  Don’t be too rich for your britches.
• If a parent can’t do anything else to bring the family together, they can always pray.  Prayer is the lifeblood of our faith and should never be underestimated.  All prayers will be answered, just not on our timeframe.  Hold on, endure to the end, and trust in the Lord.

If Satan wins and destroys our families, the plan of salvation will fail.  Well, we know Satan isn’t going to win, but we do know he’s going to do a lot of damage.  DO NOT become a casualty!  Fight him.  Fight for your family.  Do whatever it takes.

As Relief Society sisters, we should be helping, supporting, and strengthening one another in the struggle to raise righteous families.  There is no room to judge one another.  There is no room to be jealous of one another.  We must make room to build one another up, encourage one another, and share ideas.  Generating strategies, talking out our frustrations, seeing how others do it are all ways women can help one another.  Let’s be there for each other.