Standards Night
Last evening was our standards night and the stake presidency did an amazing job. We started out with a youth musical number and then watched a quick video about really cute football players that befriended a handicapped girl in their school who was being bullied. Her mother wrote a letter to the quarterback and he rallied his football buddies around (six members of the church) to watch out for her. They ate lunch with her, they invited her out on the field at games and they became her advocate and she calls them "her boys". Of course with all the attention from the cute football boys, the bullying stopped. One of those boys is serving his mission is our stake and so they had him stand and bear his testimony. Very powerful testimony. After that the deacons/beehives went to one area and the teachers/priests went with the 1st counselor of the stake while parents listened to our stake president. The boys were concise with their wrap up. There are two major sins, one killing an one having sex outside marriage. That is all I got.
President Huntsman started with a poem he has shared before
President Huntsman started with a poem he has shared before
“Twas a sheep not a lamb that strayed away
In the parable Jesus told,
A grown-up sheep that strayed away
From the ninety and nine in the fold.
And why for the sheep should we seek
And earnestly hope and pray?
Because there is danger when sheep go wrong;
They lead the lambs astray.
Lambs will follow the sheep, you know,
Wherever the sheep may stray.
When sheep go wrong, it won’t take long
Til the lambs are as wrong as they.
And so with the sheep we earnestly plead
For the sake of the lambs today,
For when sheep are lost, what a terrible cost
The lambs will have to pay!”
He then gave us seven things to help us as we raise these youth.
1)Build confidence. He read from Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth; but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. I love that phrase minister grace unto the hearers. We as parents play such a huge role in how our children view themselves and their abilities.
2)Set appropriate boundaries. Kids want them even if they complain. They are used to boundaries and we need to have them in place. Be at the crossroads.
3)Help them feel the importance of family. Go to each other's activities. Support one another. FHE, Scriptures, prayer. He said if you have to have family prayer in the morning five times because kids are all leaving at different times than do so as long as that child does not leave without a prayer with at least his/her parents Same with scriptures, gather who ever is around and do it.
4) Teach them to work and serve
5)Use their time wisely
6)Care for their bodies
7)Expose them to music and arts.
Anyway he said our children will do what they see us do not what they hear us say so we need to be good examples of all of the above things. They need to see us going to the temple, reading our scriptures, praying, serving in our callings, etc. It really was a wonderful evening.
In the parable Jesus told,
A grown-up sheep that strayed away
From the ninety and nine in the fold.
And why for the sheep should we seek
And earnestly hope and pray?
Because there is danger when sheep go wrong;
They lead the lambs astray.
Lambs will follow the sheep, you know,
Wherever the sheep may stray.
When sheep go wrong, it won’t take long
Til the lambs are as wrong as they.
And so with the sheep we earnestly plead
For the sake of the lambs today,
For when sheep are lost, what a terrible cost
The lambs will have to pay!”
He then gave us seven things to help us as we raise these youth.
1)Build confidence. He read from Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth; but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. I love that phrase minister grace unto the hearers. We as parents play such a huge role in how our children view themselves and their abilities.
2)Set appropriate boundaries. Kids want them even if they complain. They are used to boundaries and we need to have them in place. Be at the crossroads.
3)Help them feel the importance of family. Go to each other's activities. Support one another. FHE, Scriptures, prayer. He said if you have to have family prayer in the morning five times because kids are all leaving at different times than do so as long as that child does not leave without a prayer with at least his/her parents Same with scriptures, gather who ever is around and do it.
4) Teach them to work and serve
5)Use their time wisely
6)Care for their bodies
7)Expose them to music and arts.
Anyway he said our children will do what they see us do not what they hear us say so we need to be good examples of all of the above things. They need to see us going to the temple, reading our scriptures, praying, serving in our callings, etc. It really was a wonderful evening.
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