Does "Love at Home" Always Mean "Peace at Home"?

In the hymn "Love at Home," there are some lines that are questionable: "Peace and plenty here abide..." "Roses bloom beneath our feet..." "Making life a bliss complete..." But life is rarely that simple. But maybe there's a reason it's hard to keep "bliss complete."

A comedian's bit once included the joke, "Being a parent is easy, as long as you don't care how your kids turn out." But when you do care, things get tough. You have the responsibility to help your kids become good people (as much as you can--they have their own agency). But underlying that responsibility should be love. Then, after the conflicts and the hard conversations, you can return to a place where "roses bloom beneath your feet."

Caring more than you Fear

"My wife and I were reading in bed, when our five year old daughter came in. She was very upset. Putting down our books, we asked what was wrong. She told us that her two year old brother had fallen asleep on the couch downstairs, and now it was dark. Both she and her brother were afraid of the dark. I told her that he would be alright, and that she didn't have to worry. With that, she left and my wife and I went back to our reading."10 or 15 minutes later, my wife decided to go check on our little girl. On entering our daughter's room, my wife saw that she wasn't in bed. After a quick search upstairs, she went to check the dark downstairs."There, on the couch, was our son. Sleeping next to him, with an arm protecting him, was our little daughter. When my wife approached, she saw that our girl had been crying. Terrified of the dark, she had gone down anyway to help her little brother if he woke up."

My mom shared this beautiful story with us this morning. I know I've felt this way before. And I've had others show this kind of love towards me.

When Jesus said, "Thy will, not mine, be done," He was also showing this kind of love. He might have felt scared during His final days on earth. But He went through it because He loved you more than He was afraid.

I know that He cares deeply for us, and is always there for us.

Be as a Child

I was recently in a Sunday School class, and we were discussing Christ's plan to 'become as a little child.' A lot of concerns were brought up.
"Well, I don't want to be hurt." "What ever happened to standing up for yourself?" etc.
I had a question: since when did being like a child mean opening yourself to the bad things of this world and saying "Here I am, hurt me!"
When do children do that? Most of my little siblings do the opposite.
Me: "Get off of that fence!" Little Sister: "You're not in charge of me!"

1 Corinthians 14 says, "Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men." (1 Cor 14:20) In other words, be children in manners of the soul-- be teachable, humble, excited, ready for fun. The Savior also said, "Wherefore, they cannot sin, for power is not given unto Satan to tempt little children..." (D&C 29:47)
But it doesn't mean we want to stay in diapers all of our lives. Nor do we need to sit there and be hurt.

Children are also very willing to love and forgive. There's a story from "The Book of Virtues" (an awesome collection of stories and poems) about two little girls who get into a fight. Their mothers come out and see them and start railing at each other. Then the fathers, uncles, cousins, and neighbor's acquaintances come out and they all start arguing. Meanwhile, the two little girls helped each other up and started playing again. An old woman pointed the girls out to the mob, who were all touched by the quick forgiveness the girls had shown.

So for me, when Christ says, "Become as Little Children" I don't think, "oh no, now I need to eat creamed spinach and sweet potatoes for the rest of my life as I am hurt on all sides by people."
Through the scriptures and teachings of latter-day prophets I know that I need to be child-like by being open-minded and willing to love.

Here is a song I heard by John Michael Montgomery:

"Little Girl"

"I love these little people; and it is not a slight thing when they, who are so fresh from God, love us." ~Charles Dickens.

I know that as we become like little children we come closer to God and His Son, and we can gain eternal life (Matt 18:3)