I grew up in a strong LDS family (LDS stands for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints).
And as much as I don't want to get all mushy-gushy on this blog about how thankful I am for that fact, most of my life revolves around and hinges upon how I was raised. I look back and thank my lucky stars that my parents had such a good framework in which to raise nine children. They sought out "spiritual solutions" when they were confronted with any type of parenting problem, and they utilized those solutions fully.
They set up our family with God at the center and prayed their hearts out to be guided. They prayed to know how to talk to us, and how to bring up tough topics. They held family meetings regularly (Family Home Evening) and helped us solidify our relationships together. They taught us to repent when we did something wrong and to try to love as God loves. They set up rules and boundaries for us. They let us have free agency to make our own decisions but gave us guidance and respect through it all. They relied on God to help them create a plan of happiness for us.
Now, I'm well aware that I'm biased, but I think my parents are pretty much perfect. The way they parent, the way they look at life, the way they live their lives. And they've written a bunch of books about all that stuff. But now they have a new one (just released last week) all about how to set up a family spiritually. It's called "Spiritual Solutions for Everyday Parenting Challenges."
My sisters and I had the opportunity to help edit part of it last summer up at Bear Lake and it pretty much sums up some pretty clear ways to rely on God more as we set up our families. It goes into all the detail about how we can model our families in such a way that they can be strong and united...and full of love.
I feel like all Christian families, LDS or not, strive to find spiritual solutions to raise their children, and this book gives some good ways to do it.
For more information click here and enjoy!
(Also, if you want more info. about their other books and philosophies you can click here.)
