Stories of Jesus

Today my thoughts have been very scattered, but then again, they usually are. Elder Eyring said, “On many days doing what matters most will not be easy. It is not suppose to be. God's purpose in creation was to let us prove ourselves.” Of course to me I feel like being a parent is the most important thing to do. President Gordon B Hinckley pleads that we "work at our responsibility as parents as if everything in life counted on it, because in fact everything in life does count on it." Great! Wonderful! The problem is that it often is vague what that means in the everyday hum drum of life. Elder Oaks says, “Some uses of individual and family time are better, and others are best. We have to forego some good things in order to choose others that are better or best because they develop faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and strengthen our families. We need time for Family prayer, family scripture study and family home evening.” There is such a pressure to fill every second of life with good thing. I feel far too busy and in comparison to many, my life is very simple. I worry that I keep waiting the perfect day, the day where I have woken up early studied my scriptures, made a healthy warm breakfast, gone to the temple, ran 20 miles, and prepared 80 scripture stories to teach my children the gospel. This day will never come. I need to just squeeze it in. NOW! Buddy is almost 10 and time is flying fast. Elder Anderson spoke in last conference: “In our world today, each child, each young man and young woman needs his or her own conversion to the truth. Each needs his or her own light, his or her own “steadfast and immovable” faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, independent of parents, youth leaders, and supportive friends. “The stories of Jesus can be like a rushing wind across the embers of faith in the hearts of our children. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The stories of Jesus shared over and over bring faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and strength to the foundation of testimony. Can you think of a more valuable gift for our children? Are the life and teachings of Jesus Christ embedded in the minds and souls of our children? Do they think about the Savior’s life when they wonder what to do in their own lives? This will be more and more important in the years ahead. Have our children visualized the premortal council, where Jesus—the greatest of all—declared, “Here am I, send me”? Do they see their own willingness to serve as following His example? Do they think about His humble birth, the Savior of the world lying in a manger? Do His circumstances help them better understand the proper place of material possessions? Do they know that Jesus often taught, “Ask, and ye shall receive”? Do His prayers of thankfulness and His pleadings to His Father flow through our children’s minds as they kneel in prayer with their own concerns? Have we told them of the love Jesus has for children, how He held them in His arms, prayed for them, and wept? Do our children know that Jesus stands ready “with open arms to receive [them]”? Do they take strength in the stories of Jesus fasting—as we teach them the law of the fast? In their own loneliness, do our children know the loneliness the Savior felt as His friends deserted Him and as He asked His Apostles, “Will ye also go away?” Have our children felt the power of the Savior’s miracles? Jesus healed the leper, gave sight to the blind. He fed the 5,000, calmed the sea, and raised Lazarus from the dead. Do our children believe that “it is by faith that miracles are wrought,” and do they pray for miracles in their own lives? Have our children taken courage from the Savior’s words to the ruler of the synagogue: “Be not afraid, only believe”? Do our children know about His perfect life, His selfless ministry, His betrayal and cruel Crucifixion? Have we testified to them of the certainty of His Resurrection, of His visit to the Nephites in the Americas, of His appearance to the Prophet Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove? Do they anticipate His majestic return, when all will be made right and every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ? Do our children say, “Tell me the stories of Jesus I love to hear”? To fathers and mothers, to grandfathers and grandmothers, and to those without children of their own who lovingly nurture children and youth, my counsel is to speak more frequently about Jesus Christ. In His holy name is great spiritual power. “There [is] no other name given nor any other way . . . whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ”-------