Families

Because I hadn't done it in a while, I reread The Family: A Proclamation to the World. I had some interesting thoughts during this reading. It almost seems like it was written more for today than back in 1995.  Here are just a few of my thoughts.
"Each [all human beings] is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual, premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose." - We were given gender to help us see our eternal potential and to provide us with the characteristics we would need to complete our purpose.

"We declare that God's commandment for his children to multiple and replenish the earth remains in force." - I recently read an article about a No Baby Boom. People are forgoing having children because of the cost and because studies have found that people are least happy with marriage during the child rearing years. I personally feel that having a child in my home makes it happier and well worth the cost. It isn't the child that cause unhappiness; it's a failure of communication with my spouse and when I (or he) starts acting/feeling selfish about our roles in life.

"Parents have a scared duty to rear their children in love and righteousness... Husbands and wives - mothers and fathers - will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations." - Rearing a child means more than just having and making sure they are alive. It means teaching them about every aspect of life; work ethic, responsibility, love, service, gratitude, respect, etc. It seems there are too many children nowadays that don't learn half of these and it is having a detrimental effect on society. (Ever meet a child that feels they are owed everything and anything?)

"By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners." - Just like a job, each person has a main job or responsibility but to make sure the company runs smoothly there are times when you may need to help out with other jobs. Actually, in my opinion, the more you help each other out (serve), the better. (This means men are designated to only fixing the house, taking out garbage, etc and women only cook, clean, watch the kids, etc. It takes a joint effort to make things work.)

"Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets." - I believe we are are already seeing this.

It was so nice to read this again and remember what modern prophets have said about families and the blessing families can receive.