Families 'R Us

On Friday night I found myself shopping with some friends for a baby shower gift. We found ourselves at Babies ‘R Us, the most logical place to find a baby gift. As we sat in the amazingly comfortable recliners that they had on display we found ourselves looking around and noticing the people in the store. There were the pregnant women with their spouses, looking for the perfect items for their to-be baby. There was the family of five with all of the kids making a lot of ruckus over a toy that they really want. With all of this happening one of my friends commented that “coming here is kind of motivational.” At first, it just seemed as if this was a funny statement, but in all reality our trip to this store helped to show how much a greater emphasis is put on the family here in “Happy” Valley than in the rest of the world.

The Savior taught that “for this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and twain they shall be one flesh (Matthew 19:5).” Most people view marriage and having a family as something that is secondary to having a career. As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have a different perspective. The leaders of our church declared in The Family: A Proclamation to the World that “God's commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force. We further declare that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.” We know that it is one of our purposes to have a family and take care of them. A career is an important thing, but our family is the only thing that we can take with us. So the next time you are in Babies ‘R Us take a look around and realize just how lucky we are to have such an eternal perspective on the importance of the family.