Since no family is perfect and no parents are perfect, it’s important for moms and dads to prepare for when things go wrong, leaders at BYU-Pathway Worldwide said Friday.
“Our experience is that, as parents, we made a lot of mistakes. Our children did, too,” Sister Melinda Ashton said during BYU-PW’s weekly online devotional for the program’s 80,000 students.
The wife of BYU-PW President Brian Ashton said it can be powerful for a parent to admit a mistake to a child.
“One of the most important things we can do as parents is repent,” she said. “Our children need to hear us acknowledge our mistakes and apologize to them and others.”
Sister Ashton said that gives children an opportunity to see their parents rely on strength that comes from drawing closer to Jesus Christ.
“If they see their parents repenting, our children will know that repentance is part of becoming what God expects us to be,” she said. “They are more likely to come to us for help when they make mistakes, and they will also be more likely to repent.”
During the 11-minute devotional, the Ashtons shared five scripture-based ways they said can help parents be righteous leaders in their homes:
- Be a righteous example to your children.
- Teach your children to walk in the ways of truth and light and correct them when necessary.
- Share personal testimonies and experiences of God’s blessings and miracles.
- Pray with your children.
- Create a culture that draws the family together.
President Ashton also shared a list of five ways married BYU-PW students can strengthen their marriages:
- Tell each other, “I love you.”
- Have a weekly date night.
- Hold hands often.
- Sit next to each other.
- Spend time together.
President Ashton shared an experience the family considers a miracle. Before a family vacation, Sister Ashton’s father gave a blessing to each family member that they would be safe. During the trip, the Ashtons’ 5-year-old son dashed into traffic by mistake.
“As I yelled at him to stop, I remember thinking that I was about to watch my son die,” President Ashton said.
Instead, the driver slammed on her brakes and the car pivoted 360 degrees around the boy with inches to spare.
“The car got so close to our son that the driver thought she had killed him. Fortunately, our son didn’t have a scratch on him,” President Ashton said.
The Ashtons said that experience is intended to show that God is mindful of his children.
“God doesn’t solve every problem,” Sister Ashton said. “We grow from challenges and difficulties we experience. Sometimes, rather than solving our problems, God gives us strength to endure them. But we testify that God can perform miracles in our lives according to his will and timing.”
President Ashton said that among the important truths parents should teach their children is that God is real and they are his spirit children.
“Knowing that God is the Father of our spirits means that we have divine parentage and thus divine potential,” President Ashton said. “It means we can pray to God, ask for his help, and receive it when needed.”