THIS POST IS THE THIRD IN A SERIES. KRISTIANA SILVER IS THE SECOND OF A COUPLE OF GUEST BLOGGERS, ALL OF THEM COMMENTING ON THE FAMILY PROCLAMATION, AROUND THE THEME: FAMILY IS CENTRAL. OTHER TITLES IN THIS SERIES INCLUDE:
~THE FAMILY IS CENTRAL: CENTRAL TO HAPPINESS
~THE FAMILY IS CENTRAL: A SACRED INSTITUTION
Contrary to what the world tells us, "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" teaches that "the family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan."
“Many covenants are indispensable to happiness here and hereafter. Among the most important are the marriage covenants made between husband and wife. From these covenants flow the greatest joys of life.”
~President James E. Faust, April 1998
I feel very blessed to have two parents who have always demonstrated this truth. My parents are a wonderful example of a couple working in harmony to bring children into this world and raise them in righteousness, and they not only taught me, but showed me daily, the importance of the family in God’s eternal plan, and that family life was where the greatest joys in life are to be found.
Because of talents I have been given, I chose to major in music performance in college, and I was asked an untold number of times, “Well, what are you going to do with that after graduation? What kind of a job will you get with a music degree?” Frankly, there aren’t a lot of solid job prospects for music majors, but I always knew that my most important job would be that of Wife and Mother, even as the world was telling me that mothering is not important, that women need to be Someone. We need a career to define ourselves, and if we’re “just” stay-at-home moms, then we’re wasting our minds, our talents, and our degrees.
So much of daily life, especially in caring for children, can be mundane and repetitious, and often messy. But I don't feel like my mind or my talents are being wasted as I strive to teach my children correct principles and watch them grow and develop. When I think of some of the sweetest moments in my life, they have not been found on the concert stage or out in the professional world. They have been much quieter and centered on my family: welcoming new little spirits into this world, experiencing a baby's first smiles, singing around the piano, and cuddling up on the couch with a good book, surrounded by my children, and rejoicing when reading finally clicks for them and they realize a whole new world has just been opened.
Sweeter still and even more joyful: hearing my husband give a name and a blessing to each of our infant children, watching them enter baptismal waters and make their first covenants, spending time in the temple together as family members, and in some very tender moments, saying goodbye to beloved family members as they've moved on to the next world from this one.
How grateful I am that as Elder Robert D. Hales once put it:
"When families are functioning as designed by God, the relationships found therein are the most valued of mortality. The plan of the Father is that family love and companionship will continue into the eternities." (October 1996)
I can't imagine life in the eternities without my parents and siblings, my husband and children, and I look forward to the continuation of those relationships we've cultivated here in this life. Family is truly essential and central to the plan of happiness.
Kristiana Silver is a Utah homeschooling mother of six, sometimes cellist and music teacher, who loves maps, puzzles, travel, reading, and in her free time (ha!) loves indulging in logic problems, family history research (kind of the ultimate puzzle), and burnt almond fudge ice cream. She blogs at La Scuola d'Argento.
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