Latter-day Saint Life

What Grace Has to Do with Raising 7 Children and How Parents Can Rely on Christ Every Hour

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What a great take on how we can rely on Christ through the every-day challenges and joys of parenting. 

It’s 6:45 a.m. on Sunday morning as I write this. No, I’m not awake out of some celestial striving, but out of telestial temporalities. My one-year-old son woke up early and cried until he got some attention. It was enough for me to get him out of bed, put him on the family room floor, give him a “ba-ba,” and push repeat play on an old Baby Einstein video.

It wouldn't be so hard to get up early on a Sunday for the baby except for the fact that I was up until midnight last night, waiting for my 18-year-old daughter to come home from her date. Yes, right now my wife and I are spanning the parenthood gap between teenagers and toddlers, newborns and drama storms. Between the baby and the 18-year-old, we have five other children (seven total, four daughters and three sons). Three of them are teenage girls simultaneously under the same roof who are, like, almost, like, practically grown-ups [emoji, emoji, emoji]. Heaven help us.

Which is precisely what I want to write about: How does heaven really help us as we are raising this blessed family? One thing I’ve learned and written about as I’ve strived to become a disciple of Christ is that the Lord, indeed, can help us every hour. Not just in the tragedies and sins (which, gratefully he does), but in the day to day. Even in the seemingly mundane, there is grace—a constant influence from his Atonement to help us. President Boyd K. Packer called this influence “an ever-present power to call upon in everyday life.” 

So, what practical power from Christ have I recently experienced in my everyday life? 

Let me share with you my last 24 hours.

Lead image from Time Out for Women
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