“CHILDREN ARE AN HERITAGE OF THE LORD” 9 IDEAS FOR APPLICATION According to your own needs and circumstances, follow one or both of these suggestions. • Make a commitment to spend individual time • Take time to talk about your children with your with each of your children or with a child in your spouse. Consider each child’s strengths and chal- extended family. As you talk with each child, seek lenges. Determine what you can do to meet each to learn something new about his or her interests, child’s needs. needs, and challenges. READING ASSIGNMENT Study the following article. If you are married, read and discuss the article with your spouse. PRECIOUS CHILDREN, A GIFT FROM GOD Most of these little ones come to parents who eagerly await their arrival, mothers and fathers who President Thomas S. Monson rejoice to be a part of that miracle we call birth. No First Counselor in the First Presidency sacrifice is too great, no pain too severe, no waiting too long. From the book of Matthew we learn that after No wonder we are shocked when a wire story Jesus and His disciples descended from the Mount originating from a city in America informs that of Transfiguration, they paused at Galilee, then “a newborn girl who was wrapped in a paper bag came to Capernaum. The disciples said unto Jesus, and dumped in a garbage can is under close observa- “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? tion at a hospital. The child is doing well. ‘She’s a real “And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set beautiful, healthy baby,’ a hospital spokesman said him in the midst of them, Wednesday. Police said the infant was discovered “And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be after trash men emptied the garbage can into the converted, and become as little children, ye shall back end of their dump truck and saw something not enter into the kingdom of heaven. move in the debris. Authorities are looking for the mother.” “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom It is our solemn duty, our precious privilege—even of heaven. our sacred opportunity—to welcome to our homes and to our hearts the children who grace our lives. “And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. Our children have three classrooms of learning which are quite distinct one from another. I speak “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones of the classroom at school, the classroom in church, which believe in me, it were better for him that a and the classroom called home. millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”1 The Classroom at School I think it significant that Jesus loved these little The Church has always had a vital interest in pub- ones who so recently had left the preexistence to lic education and encourages its members to partici- come to earth. Children then and children now pate in parent-teacher activities and other events bless our lives, kindle our love, and prompt our designed to improve the education of our youth. good deeds. There is no more important aspect of public edu- Is it any wonder that the poet Wordsworth speaks cation than the teacher who has the opportunity thus of our birth: “Trailing clouds of glory do we to love, to teach, and to inspire eager boys and girls come / From God, who is our home.”2 35 and young men and young women. President David The humble and inspired teacher in the Church O. McKay said: “Teaching is the noblest profession classroom can instill in her pupils a love for the in the world. Upon the proper education of youth scriptures. Why, the teacher can bring the Apostles depend the permanency and purity of home, the of old and the Savior of the world not only into the safety and perpetuity of the nation. The parent gives classroom but also into the hearts, the minds, the the child an opportunity to live; the teacher enables souls of our children. the child to live well.”3 I trust we shall recognize their importance and their vital mission by provid- The Classroom Called Home ing adequate facilities, the finest of books, and Perhaps most significant of all classrooms is salaries which show our gratitude and our trust. the classroom of the home. It is in the home that Each of us remembers with affection the teachers we form our attitudes, our deeply held beliefs. of our youth. I think it amusing that my elementary It is in the home that hope is fostered or destroyed. school music teacher was a Miss Sharp. She had the Our homes are the laboratories of our lives. What capacity to infuse within her pupils a love for music we do there determines the course of our lives and taught us to identify musical instruments and when we leave home. Dr. Stuart E. Rosenberg wrote their sounds. I well recall the influence of a Miss in his book The Road to Confidence, “Despite all new Ruth Crow who taught the subject of health. inventions and modern designs, fads and fetishes, no Though these were Depression times, she ensured one has yet invented, or will ever invent, a satisfying that each sixth-grade student had a dental health substitute for one’s own family.”5 chart. She personally checked each pupil for dental A happy home is but an earlier heaven. President health and made certain that through public or pri- George Albert Smith asked: “[Do] we want our homes vate resources, no child went without proper dental to be happy[?] If we do, let them be the abiding place care. As Miss Burkhaus, who taught geography, of prayer, thanksgiving and gratitude.”6 rolled down the maps of the world and, with her pointer, marked the capital cities of nations and the There are those situations where children come to distinctive features of each country, language, and mortality with a physical or mental handicap. Try as culture, little did I anticipate or dream that one day we will, it is not possible to know why or how such I would visit these lands and peoples. events occur. I salute those parents who without complaint take such a child into their arms and into Oh, the importance in the lives of our children of their lives and provide that added measure of sacri- teachers who lift their spirits, sharpen their intellects, fice and love to one of Heavenly Father’s children. and motivate their very lives! One summer at Aspen Grove Family Camp, The Classroom at Church I observed a mother patiently feeding a teenage daughter injured at birth and totally dependent The classroom at church adds a vital dimension upon Mother. Mother administered each spoonful to the education of every child and youth. In this of food, each swallow of water, while holding setting each teacher can provide an upward reach steady the head and neck of her daughter. Silently to those who listen to her lessons and feel the influ- I thought to myself, For 17 years, Mother has provided ence of her testimony. In Primary, Sunday School, this service and all others to her daughter, never thinking Young Women meetings, and those of the Aaronic of her own comfort, her own pleasure, her own food. Priesthood, well-prepared teachers, called under the May God bless such mothers, such fathers, such inspiration of the Lord, can touch each child, each children. And He will. youth, and prompt all to “seek . out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study The Innocence of Children and also by faith.”4 A word of encouragement here and a spiritual thought there can affect a precious life Parents everywhere realize that the most powerful and leave an indelible imprint upon an immortal soul. combination of emotions in the world is not called out by any grand cosmic event, nor is it found in Many years ago, at a Church magazine awards novels or history books, but merely by a parent banquet, we sat with President and Sister Harold B. gazing down upon a sleeping child. Lee. President Lee said to our teenage daughter, Ann: “The Lord has blessed you with a beautiful face and When doing so, the truth of the words of Charles body. Keep the inside just as beautiful as the outside, M. Dickinson come to mind: and you will be blessed with true happiness.” This They are idols of hearts and of households! master teacher left with Ann an inspired guide to They are angels of God in disguise; the celestial kingdom of our Heavenly Father. The sunlight still sleeps in their tresses, His glory still gleams in their eyes; 36 “Children Are an Heritage of the Lord” These truants from home and from Heaven, struggling terribly, batting about .200. Because of his They have made me more gentle and mild; poor performance, he was down on himself and felt And I know now how Jesus could liken miserable. He really didn’t want to go when Dale The kingdom of God to a child.7 Murphy asked him to come along to the hospital, In our daily experiences with children, we discover but he went anyway. There he met Ricky Little, a they are most perceptive and often utter profound stalwart [Atlanta] Braves’ supporter, but a youngster truths. Charles Dickens, the author of the classic afflicted with leukemia.