Parenthood Matters

I've actually had a couple other posts in the works for a while, but one of the talks in Sacrament Meeting today reminded me of something I had noticed during General Conference. It's pretty short and easy to put together, so I'm posting it first.

In the Saturday afternoon session Elder Neil L. Andersen said:

Many voices in the world today marginalize the importance of having children or suggest delaying or limiting children in a family. My daughters recently referred me to a blog written by a Christian mother (not of our faith) with five children. She commented: "[Growing] up in this culture, it is very hard to get a biblical perspective on motherhood. ...Children rank way below college. Below world travel for sure. Below the ability to go out at night at your leisure. Below honing your body at the gym. Below any job you may have or hope to get." She then adds, "Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. You do not collect children because you find them cuter than stamps. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for."

The next morning Elaine S. Dalton said:

Today's popular culture tries to erode and demean your eternal role as a patriarch and father and minimize your most important responsibilities. These have been given to you by divine design, and as fathers you are to preside over [your] families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for [your] families.

So two different people in two different talks said basically the same things about mothers and fathers. We need both. Motherhood and fatherhood are both divine callings, more important than any other responsibility we will have on this earth. And the world and Satan are working to minimize the importance of both.

I also found it interesting for some reason that a man said the bit about motherhood and a woman said the part about fatherhood. But I think I'll not read much  into it for now.

And for those of you who want to read the messages in full, I did some searching and found the blog that Elder Andersen quoted. It is desiringgod.org/blog. That particular entry is titled Motherhood Is a Calling (And Where Your Children Rank). Elder Andersen's talk can be found here; Sister Dalton's is here.