A Parents Purpose

“Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. “Children are an heritage of the Lord” (Psalm 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.

The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. 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. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation. Extended families should lend support when needed.” - The Family: A Proclamation to the World

As stated above, a parents purpose is to teach a child and love them. Parents will be held accountable to God for following through with these things. One of the things that stood out to me the most was the last sentence in the above quote. “extended families should lend support when needed.” This stuck out to me because when I was single and living with my family my extended family would have been grandparents and uncles and Aunts and so on. Although, now that I am married my family is my husband and I. Now my extended family are my parents and sisters. They are there for me when I need support. My parents weren’t perfect, no parent is, but they did prepare me well for living with my husband. They taught me how to serve, how to love, how to listen and be a comfort. They taught me to pray in times of hardship and they told me that no matter what I do or where I go they will always love me the same. Now i understand that they did not say that so i can go see how far i can push that until they take it back but i see it more as a comfort. i took this as things that i say or do in moments of high emotion or stress, my parents will be understanding and forgiving of those things. at least this is how I understood it. I can’t say i understand what’s it’s like to be a parent but i know it involves sacrifice. an example of this would be my husband when he was little. He had a single mother who worked countless hours a day to make my husbands life comfortable when he was little. She sacrificed time with her child to make sure he had food, clothes, a home and some extras. That is what she had to sacrifice at the time, but now that my husband is grown and married she gives both of us her attention and her time even though she doesn’t have to. I know that all parents out there who are trying their best will be blessed and i wish strength and comfort for all of them.