Protecting Our Homes

5th Sunday lesson
By:Dixie Dunn
Adapted from: Protect Our homes, Renew Our Powers; by:Shirley R. Klein

Our two oldest children, Noble and Liam, are just less than two years apart. They are and always have been the best of friends. Which means they have their share of fights. Noble being older, wiser and bigger generally will win the fight whether they were physical or verbal. The day came however when Liam began to win a battle here and there. He may not have won the war, but he could win a battle or two. All that a war is, is a series of battles. Noble is naïve enough to not realize the more battles that Liam wins, the closer he gets to winning the overall war too!

President Kimball said 25 years ago:
Many of the social restraints which in the past have helped to reinforce and to shore up the family are dissolving and disappearing. The time will come when only those who believe deeply and actively in the family will be able to preserve their families in the midst of the gathering evil around us.

For the most part I live a charmed life. I have a great deal to be grateful for and I try daily to be more grateful than not. I look for the positive and rely on that to get me through the day to day dramas of being a modern pioneer woman. My life is not without trial, but even I have been surprised recently as our family unit has felt under attack from an outside force. Without going into a lot of detail I just want to share that we have had to take a physical stand that puts our family first. We have had to put action up to support our words and feelings about family. We have had to make difficult choices in the brace of stormy winds. We were tested as a couple and as a family to follow through with what we thought and felt was the right thing to do. It has been difficult, not because our hearts ever questioned what the right thing to do was, but because this outside force has been so forceful, so persuasive, so relentless. We may have won this battle, but the war that is being waged is far from over.

We can’t always tell what trials, what influences we will battle. Sometimes by environment we can predict and even become familiar with our regular battles that seek to destroy our homes and testimonies, but there will also be the surprises, the unforeseen attacks that attempt to catch us off guard.

Elder L. Tom Perry reminds us
We need to make our homes a place of refuge from the storm. . . Even if the smallest openings are left unattended, negative influences can penetrate the very walls of our homes.

We are being bombarded day in and day out with negative influences that the world and even, perhaps we as latter-day saints, see as the norm, the usual and what is to be expected. We must do all we can, strengthening ourselves spiritually, to recognize these negative influences for what they are before it is too late. Often we are so desensitized to outer influences, or we think we are going unharmed, that when the adverse effects are out of control we are taken by surprise. Another thought on becoming desensitized, we think we are doing ourselves a favor by ignoring the world around us at times as it becomes more and more questionable. We also need to remember that others around us may not be so good at ignore such things, mainly our chidlren. We need to stay aware of what we are battling AND keep our selves from it at the same time.

The battles for our homes and families are real. When I say home, I am talking to every person, because we all create a home for ourselves. Home is not only something in the far distant future or the place you are from. There are many different ideas about what home is. Home is where we feel comfortable and safe, where we have meaningful people, where we make memories.

“Only the home can compare with the temple in sacredness”
The word sacred means: belonging to or dedicated to God; worthy of reverence, that which must not be violated or disregarded.

We need to apply this idea of sacred to our everyday life and things we do each day, not just prayers or reading scriptures. Everyday work and recreation in the home provides opportunities for ourselves and our children to make choices to draw closer to the spirit. Perhaps we can add sacred to dinner time, yard work, laundry, family games and all other activities that take place in the home. If we don’t feel like our homes compare to the temple in sacredness – we need to ask the obvious, yet possibly difficult to answer question, Why not?

Are we allowing too many outside influences to control our time or perhaps our thinking of what is acceptable? Have we counseled with the Lord on where we are at in our progression, how our families are doing on this journey? Are we ready for His answer? Are we ready to have Him with us all day everyday?

The mundane of day to day tasks especially in the home can seem simple and unimportant. Yet we read in 1 Nephi 17:41 “because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished.” We should be careful – as it is easy to watch for the big fires, it is the small smoldering fires that can flare up at anytime catching us by surprise and be uncontrollable if we are not careful. Because something is simple does not mean it does not need thought or care.

We must learn to value everyday life, to find happiness in each day, to create and keep sacredness in our homes. We must remember that all of our actions, even the simple ones, have consequences. God’s commandments are not temporal, they are not limited to this life, thus the actions we take today shape who we become here on Earth, but also in the life to come.

Draw closer to Christ and let his light increase in your life. He will act as a watchtower to safeguard you, your family and your home. There is a link between receiving His light and practicing obedience. The closer we follow, the more light we will have.

Battle and wars, literal and figurative. What battles are we winning, what battles are we losing?