Family Motto

Dear Mom,

I have thought a lot about the Cuthbertson family crest lately. Where is it?  What did I know about it? Did I understand what I stood for as a Cuthbertson? And why did we call the feather wheat, it was clearly a feather?

I have been thinking about what the Tober’s now stand for. What will be our family crest? What can we take from our two families growing up and bring together? The Tobertson Crest.

I have also been reading and rereading the Family Proclamation and drawing a lot from the words that stand out to me. Hopefully you can follow my thoughts on paper again, I tend to get off on a tangent.

The Proclamation says two things to me:

1. “Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

2. “Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.”

I want these two things always for my family; happiness and success. So how do I implement these things in my life and in the lives of my children. Well, I wrote a list and I will share a portion of what I wrote down.

1. Faith – Going to church, strengthening testimony, attending the temple, reading scriptures, fulfilling callings….

2. Prayer – Morning and night; personal, family, couples; meals and praying always.

3. Repentance – Sorry for the wrongs and turn my back on the wrong with the intent to never do it again.

4. Forgiveness – Never hold a grudge and accept apologize with no other  thought about it. Leave it in the past.

5. Respect –

6. Love – Only love with a heart of charity one towards another.

7. Compassion -

8. Work – Work for the Lord.

9. Recreational Activities – FHE, scouts, date night, temple attendance.

I haven’t finished it all. Now how would I form our crest out of this? I don’t know.

After I wrote all the words down, I put together specific goals for me and my family. It was one thing to just read is and think about it; I had to put it into practice in our lives.

Mom, I see how much  our families success and happiness meant to you. We didn’t have the Family Proclamation back then but you understood the importance of making a family motto to stand by.

It shows the love and concern you had for your children. You even painted it yourself and hung it in our living room where we gathered often in prayer, scripture study, and family home evening. It was a constant reminder of who I was.

It obviously has had an impact on me. Thank you!!

I love you!

Kathy