Sister Stevens began her talk with a wonderful story. I'm just going to copy and paste it here rather then mess it up by trying to summarize it....
A member of the Seventy was on assignment in Hong Kong. "He visited a very humble ward that was struggling in many ways, unable to provide for its own needs. As the bishop described their situation, the General Authority felt the impression to have the members pay their tithing. The bishop, knowing their dire circumstances, was concerned about how he could carry out that counsel. He thought about it and decided he would approach some of the most faith-filled members of his ward and ask them to pay their tithing. The next Sunday he went to the Primary. He taught the children about the Lord’s law of tithing and asked if they would be willing to pay tithing on the money they earned. The children said they would. And they did.
The bishop later went to the adults in the ward and shared with them that for the past six months their faithful children had been paying tithing. He asked them if they would be willing to follow the example of these children and do the same. The people were so touched by the sacrifices the children were willing to make that they did what was necessary to pay their tithing. And the windows of heaven were opened. With the example of these faithful children, a ward grew in obedience and in testimony."
A member of the Seventy was on assignment in Hong Kong. "He visited a very humble ward that was struggling in many ways, unable to provide for its own needs. As the bishop described their situation, the General Authority felt the impression to have the members pay their tithing. The bishop, knowing their dire circumstances, was concerned about how he could carry out that counsel. He thought about it and decided he would approach some of the most faith-filled members of his ward and ask them to pay their tithing. The next Sunday he went to the Primary. He taught the children about the Lord’s law of tithing and asked if they would be willing to pay tithing on the money they earned. The children said they would. And they did.
The bishop later went to the adults in the ward and shared with them that for the past six months their faithful children had been paying tithing. He asked them if they would be willing to follow the example of these children and do the same. The people were so touched by the sacrifices the children were willing to make that they did what was necessary to pay their tithing. And the windows of heaven were opened. With the example of these faithful children, a ward grew in obedience and in testimony."
I love this story because the bishop went to the children first. Our Heavenly Father knows children are a key to helping us become like Him. They are often the first to love and the first to forgive.
She goes on to quote Matthew 18:3-4...
“Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven”
Children are so innocent and so pure. They have such amazing faith and are so trusting. We loose a lot of this same trust as we grow and get distracted with the world.
Elder M. Russell Ballard has taught us the importance of the Savior’s admonition to “behold your little ones” when he said:
Elder M. Russell Ballard has taught us the importance of the Savior’s admonition to “behold your little ones” when he said:
“Notice that He didn’t say ‘glance at them’ or ‘casually observe them’ or ‘occasionally take a look in their general direction.’ He said to behold them. To me that means that we should embrace them with our eyes and with our hearts; we should see and appreciate them for who they really are: spirit children of our Heavenly Father, with divine attributes”
I love this quote! Sister Stevens ends her talk by quoting one of my new favorite songs from the moment I first heard my precious children singing it, "The Family is of God."
God gave us families
To help us become what He wants us to be-
This is how He shares His love,
For the fam'ly is of God.
Whenever I think about this song, or play it on the piano the spirit always testifies to me that it is true. God shares His love with us through our family. The family is ordained of God and is the basic foundation of our lives here on earth and is necessary for our journey home to our Father in heaven. I love all four of my babies. I wish they would stop growing up. If the love I feel for my family is just like God's love for us, then I want that in my life forever!
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