Foundations

"Be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work."

-Doctrine and Covenants 64:33

I've thought about this verse a lot this week. The foundation of something is so important. 

I remember when we were house hunting in Cedar City. They had a lot of things available to buy. Some things that looked really nice, but a problem that we kept running into was that they had major foundation issues because of the soil they were built on, which would lead to problems in the future. 

The early saints of the church were told that they were laying the foundation of a great work. The foundation of Zion aka the Church of Jesus Christ, but that was all they were going to be able to build. That was their part. They weren't going to see the finished results, just the beginning, but it was so important that they did their part, for without a beginning, what do you have?

I was thinking of this in relation to my life right now. There is something I am trying to build a foundation for. My children. In my attempts at parenting and teaching them, I am giving them a foundation for them to build on for the rest of their lives. I am not the master builder though. I've just been asked to build the foundation. With each family scripture study, family prayer, church attendance, I am building a foundation for them to base their testimonies on.

Joy D. Jones said, "Accidental conversion is not a principle of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Becoming like our Savior will not happen randomly. Being intentional in loving, teaching, and testifying can help children begin at a young age to feel the influence of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is essential to our children’s testimony of and conversion to Jesus Christ."

"Remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation...which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." 

-Helaman 5:12

I feel like this is the way it is with other things too. Every time I have my children apologize, (even when they don't want to) they are learning the importance of it. Everytime I ask them to say excuse me when they burp or pick up their clothes after they get dressed, I need to remember that all I am asked to build right now is the foundation. It is up to them and the master builder to do the rest. 

Sometimes it gets frustrating asking them to do the same things over and over again, but they will learn eventually. Through repetition and consistency. And hopefully they will learn to have Christ as their foundation, and pick up their clothes.