Response

Our last parenting class ended tonight with re-iteration of what we have learned in the last three. As for the answer to the question about Suzy and Disneyland...................This is what our instructor said according to the scriptures and the temple and the Lord's example of parenting. He said that she chose to sacrifice and we should not take that opportunity away from her but to let her seal her sacrifice and feel the blessings that come from sacrifice by having her stay behind. WOW! I could never do that! I see some other things that could come from an effective family council on this subject. I can see that in the council some of the other siblings might say,"if Suzy stays home that I don't want to go either." I see an opportunity for family members to come up with a solution to this problem together and maybe they would even choose something better than "Disneyland" like a charitable sacrifice they could all make that would impact their lives.

The whole main thought of our class tonight is this: "We cannot force our children to do or choose anything that they do not want to." We should quit stressing over and getting angry with our kid's bad decisions because they should own their own consequences for those decisions. We must teach them correct principles and let them govern themselves. That is hard to do, especially if they make some bad decisions. But that is part of our test and we need to remember that is what the test is about. It is all about how we react to our situations.