Do you Feel the Storm Brewing?

Does anyone feel a shift lately? I have talked to others who seem to be feeling it.  I don't know if it is general, but I know I am feeling a sense of a tempest in my midst and the necessity of securing my family.

It almost feel like the word is the ocean,  the Gospel - my life-jacket, my ability to swim and the sustenance I will need through the voyage...
and my home is the boat.

I feel this need to strengthen my boat - to patch up any holes, to make it sure and sturdy for my children.  Because they are going to need it.

The waves are towering high above us. I see youth I love getting thrown overboard and trying to swim back. I see my own kids getting tossed by the building waves and reaching out to me and their dad to take their hand and  help them hold on tight.

I think the ocean was more mellow just a few years ago.  We could swim around a little and swim back to secure our life jackets once in a while and be alright. But the ocean is full of eddies now, the waves are high and unpredictable, and the storm is increasingly intense. Our boat, or "barge", needs to be "tight like unto a dish" (Ether 2)

I am not saying any of this in a spirit of fear. I trust in Him who can walk on water and calm the storms. I just feel a sense of the importance of my role in making a safe place amidst the storm.

I sometimes wonder if Satan ever feels ashamed of himself at the ruthless ways he is attacking our youth. He fights dirty with no holds barred. I have been taken aback by the unexpected ways he penetrates my children's armor. He sneaks up on them - even when their intentions are good - and tricks them into traps. I am grateful for the open communication we have so far and that we have been able to see those traps and make an effort together to move away from them. But we have to be consistently vigilant.



So I am seeking to be guided in how to make my home a strong place of safety.  I am learning that it is not just the environment that needs to be uplifting - it is also the relationships. This means we need to spend time together, learn to forgive one another, and care for each other.* 
*I know many families are missing a father or a mother, but I also know the Lord makes up the difference in those situations and helps us patch up the boat to what it needs to be to make it through the storms. I have seen it numerous times.

I am finding that even the great adult-planned activities and classes offered in our community can distract from this more important purpose. We start to feel pulled apart in different directions and become too busy for one another.

Then there is the peer-directed activities! Spice is getting older and opportunities arise every weekend night to go be with friends. It is culturally acceptable, even in diligent families, to let youth hang out, unsupervised, in mixed gender groups for an evening out at an event or someone's house (where the parents are home, but no where to be seen). Initially, I too thought this was okay.  I have an amazing daughter and I trust her immensely. A couple of years ago, I went to one of these events with her and I watched all of these good youth there without parents. I then knew it was a cultural norm that was not approved of by the Lord (at least for my daughter - not speaking for anyone else). She will be dating in a year and will get to enjoy group dates and fun unsupervised social activities at a time approved of by the Lord. (By the way, before I get emails from well-meaning people about how I can't shelter my kids forever, I'm not saying she doesn't get to go anywhere without me - just that we are very careful about what activities we approve of and we make sure they are well supervised by a trusted adult.)

In the mean time, we are working on making our family relationships strong. We are working on having fun together, caring for one another and uplifting one another.  Sure, there is still contention in our home, but it is not accepted and we use it to teach important lessons. I tell my kids that if we can't get along with each other, we have no business leaving the home to be with friends.  Family relationships must be strong and secure. We must make sure our boat is leak-free before we go visit other boats :-) It is then good to find other families who are working to make their boats secure so we can help one another with our boat-building tips and tricks :-)

I know tough times are ahead. I know my kids will likely fall overboard at times and have to find their way back. I just want to be sure that I am doing my part to teach them to secure their life-jackets, to strengthen their swimming muscles and to know that their family will be there, paddling out to them, reaching out their hands to help them back on board to a place of safety.