Our Modern Heritage: The Home & Family Culture Podcast

In 1990, James E. Faust said that being a parent is a divine calling. He said: "In my opinion, the teaching, rearing, and training of children requires more intelligence, intuitive understanding, humility, strength, wisdom, spirituality, perseverance, and hard work than any other challenge we might have in life. This is especially so when moral foundations of honor and decency are eroding around us. To have successful homes, values must be taught, and there must be rules, there must be standards, and there must be absolutes. Many societies give parents very little support in teaching and honoring moral values. A number of cultures are becoming essentially valueless, and many of the younger people in those societies are becoming moral cynics" (The Greatest Challenge in the World - Good Parenting). We must be the change we want to see in the world. You can't fight hate with hate. You can't teach your children compassion if you don't show them what compassion looks like. If you want to see a difference, be the difference. Our homes are the training ground for the next generation and they pick up our language, our habits, our literacy, our skills, our traditions through the culture we create in our homes. Faust quotes Barbara Bush: “But whatever the era, whatever the times, one thing will never change: Fathers and mothers, if you have children, they must come first. You must read to your children and you must hug your children and you must love your children. Your success as a family, our success as a society, depends not on what happens in the White House but on what happens inside your house.” (Washington Post, 2 June 1990, p. 2.) Especially true as another Election Day has passed. Whether you agree with the results or not, the power is in our hands to create the success we desire if we turn to our homes, our local communities, our congregations, and to ourselves, and work together to be the change.  

The root of "cultivate" is "culture" and is a thing to be developed and grown.  Our family culture is not something we perfect overnight.  The culture in our homes is a thing that we practice, a thing we promote and foster.  Parents are actively engaged in promoting an intended culture that will optimize the development of the family.  That does not mean it is concocted or fake.  A family culture is intentional. Your default behaviors and habits can be shaped when you want to intentionally change the environment of the home.

And the most important thing a mother can do for her children is to respect their father! In his book "Love & Respect" Dr. Emerson Eggerichs says that while women require unconditional love, men require unconditional respect.  This is how to avoid what he calls "the crazy cycle" in marriage.  Ultimately, the tone of the marriage relationship will play a major factor in the culture of the home.  When children know their parents love and support each other, they feel more secure, they have a better sense of what a healthy relationship looks like, and they are more likely to be resilient. Alright, so that isn't a scientific quote, but I know I've read it in psychology. Even so, it is just good practice, and everyone is happier.  If a happy marriage isn't in the cards for you, just setting a good example of respect to other adults, even an ex, has the same result. By only using respectful language in front of our kids, they will get the message.

  "No other success can compensate for failure in the home. The poorest shack in which love prevails over a united family is of greater value to God and future humanity that any other riches. In such a home God can work miracles and will work miracles." -David O. McKay   And don't we all need a miracle or two?

  Though this was written in homage to mothers, this applies to all who are involved in raising our children.  The culture and feeling in our homes are what shape the world.  If you are a mom and you have ever heard, "just a mom," I want you to consider the power in your role.  Parents are arguably doing more to shape our culture than any individual in any other vocation.  Teachers and politicians are shaped by their parents.  The culture around them is manipulated by the families near them.  Parents do well to educate themselves about their role and the power they have to inspire the hearts and spirits of their children with love and hope, and to be educated in general.  Their children will grow up to shape the world.

Hi friends! I will be launching my very own podcast about home and family culture!!  Soon I will be airing a description of what inspired me to pursue this topic.  I will be interviewing parents, educators, coaches, and leaders about how the culture in our home and families influences the hearts, minds, spirits, and bodies of our children.  I was inspired by kids who are making it, and I wondered what was different about their homes and families that has made their success possible.  I'm inspired by parents who seem to be raising stellar kids.  Is that just a front, or is there something different going on there?  I want to know what is going on in our homes and families that is creating an intentional culture.  When I'm talking about home and family culture, I'm talking about what you default to as a family.  It's the tone you use with each other when you speak. It's the activities you are most comfortable with. It's conversation, discussion, relationships. It's traditions. It's beliefs and customs. It's routines and expectations. It's roles and responsibilities. It's attitudes about and toward each other and the environment. Mantras. Mission statements. And I want to know how these cultures are shaping our nation. I'm so excited to get started on this journey! I hope you will join me! Save