An area not often addressed in modern society is the importance of a healthy family unit. “Home should be a place where cheerfulness, courtesy, and love abide; and where these graces dwell, there will abide happiness and peace. Troubles may invade, but these are the lot of humanity. Let patience, gratitude, and love keep sunshine in the heart, though the day may be ever so cloudy. In such homes angels of God abide.
The home should be to the children the most attractive place in the world, and the mother’s presence should be its greatest attraction. Children have sensitive, loving natures. They are easily pleased and easily made unhappy. By gentle discipline, in loving words and acts, mothers may bind their children to their hearts.
In the morning before
he leaves home for his daily labor, let the father gather his children
about him and, bowing before God, commit them to the
care of the
Father in heaven. When the cares of the day are past, let the family unite
in offering grateful prayer and raising the song of praise, in acknowledgment
of divine care during the day. Fathers and mothers, however pressing your
business, do not fail to gather your family around God’s altar. Ask
for the guardianship of holy angels in your home. Remember that your dear
ones are exposed to temptations.
Daily annoyances beset the path of young and old. Those who would live
patient, loving, cheerful lives must pray. Only by receiving constant help
from God
can we gain the victory over self.
Let the husband and wife study each other’s happiness, never failing in the small courtesies and little kindly acts that cheer and brighten the life. Perfect confidence should exist between husband and wife. Together they should consider their responsibilities. Together they should work for the highest good of their children. Never should they in the presence of the children criticize each other’s plans or question each other’s judgment. Let the wife be careful not to make the husband’s work for the children more difficult. Let the husband hold up the hands of his wife, giving her wise counsel and loving encouragement.
Children as well as parents
have important duties in the home. They should be taught that they are
a part of the home firm. They are fed and clothed
and loved and cared for, and they should respond to these many mercies
by bearing
their share of the home burdens and bringing all the happiness possible
into the family of which they are members.
The mother should cultivate
a cheerful, contented, happy disposition. Every effort in this direction
will be abundantly repaid in both the
physical
well-being and the moral character of her children. In the children
committed to her
care, every mother has a sacred charge from God. ‘Take this
son, this daughter,’ He
says; ‘train him/her for Me; give him/her a character polished
after the similitude of a palace, that it may shine in the courts
of the
Lord
forever.’
The more quiet and simple the life of the child, the more favorable it will be to both physical and mental development. At all times the mother should endeavor to be quiet, calm, and self-possessed. Many infants are extremely susceptible to nervous excitement, and the mother’s gentle, unhurried manner will have a soothing influence that will be of untold benefit to the child.
Mothers who desire their
boys and girls to possess the vigor of health should dress them properly
and encourage them in all reasonable
weather
to be
much in the open air.
The importance of training children to right dietetic habits
can hardly be overestimated. The little ones need to learn that
they
eat to live,
not live
to eat.
In many cases the sickness
of children can be traced to errors in management. Irregularities in
eating, insufficient clothing
in the
chilly evening,
lack of vigorous exercise to keep the blood in healthy circulation,
or lack of
abundance of air for its purification, may be the cause of
the trouble. Let the parents
study to find the causes of the sickness, and then remedy the
wrong conditions as soon as possible.
Teach your children from the cradle to practice self-denial and self-control. Teach them to enjoy the beauties of nature and in useful employment to exercise systematically all the powers of body and mind. Bring them up to have sound constitutions and good morals, to have sunny dispositions and sweet tempers. Impress upon their tender minds the truth that God does not design that we should live for present gratification merely, but for our ultimate good. Above everything else, let parents surround their children with an atmosphere of cheerfulness, courtesy, and love.
In the beginning, God placed our first parents amidst the beautiful sights and sounds He desires us to rejoice in today. The more nearly we come into harmony with God’s original plan, the more favorable will be our position to secure health of body, and mind, and soul. Better than any other inheritance of wealth you can give to your children will be the gift of a healthy body, a sound mind, and a noble character.
Instead of dwelling where
only the works of men can be seen, go where you can look upon the works
of God. Find
rest of
spirit in
the beauty
and quietude
and peace of nature. Go where, apart from the distractions
and dissipations of city life, you can give your children
your companionship,
where
you can teach them to learn of God through His works,
and train them for
lives of
integrity
and usefulness.”