An example to our children

Any parent would be quick to admit that parenting is a tricky business. I would say that most of us moms and dads generally do our best to perform the challenging tasks of parenting. And we quickly realize that parental training happens "on the job." We also commit to be good examples to our children as they enter this world, but often end up having a few "do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do" moments. How important it is for each of us parents to live our lives in a manner that our children can observe, respect, and even... follow.

Almost 150 years ago, Mormon prophet and renowned pioneer Brigham Young said: "We should never permit ourselves to do anything that we are not willing to see our children do. We should set them an example that we wish them to imitate."

Ours is definitely the task to be fitting examples for our children. Such Christian virtues as integrity, charity, spirituality, accountability, civility, and fidelity are in a decline in our communities. However, how important it is for us parents to stand tall and firmly fixed in following and possessing these virtues so we can pass them on to our children.

H. David Burton once said: "Teaching virtuous traits begins in the home with parents who care and set the example. A good example encourages emulation; a poor example gives license to the children to disregard the parents' teachings and even expand the poor example. A hypocritical example destroys credibility." So we must ask ourselves: How will our children remember us?

Do we tell our children to be good sports, and then yell at the refs at our children's sporting events? Do we discourage swearing to our children, and then... swear at the driver that cut us off on the freeway?

By "walking the talk," and setting the kind of example that we would have our children imitate... we are better able to create... "Quality Living". -Doug