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Why Kids Say, “Grown-ups Don't Make Sense”
When our words and our actions are at odds  — when we display a principled life in one circumstance and then flip flop in another —  we sell ourselves woefully short and at the same time we do an immeasurable disservice to our children or other youth in our lives who are left to wonder at our lack of integrity.
By Lynn Harbertson

The Meridian Family Value of the Month
Imagine the power of half a million readers, spread throughout the world, focusing on the same value each month, and sharing online with each other the ideas and the methods that have worked for them.
By Richard Eyre

I Give You My Permission
I am, here and now, offering you absolution from all your guilt over being an attentive, responsible, careful, loving, and strict parent.
By Orson Scott Card

Parenting "Difficult" Adolescents
Why "There is Hope"

If all we ever do in response to those children we are afraid we are losing is be compassionate, telling the truth in love, we are doing the most important thing, we are being the most important kind of person we can be.
By Terrance D. Olson

Parenting "Difficult" Adolescents
Why "Nothing Works"

Parents sometimes long to be more skilled than they know how to be. But there is something more fundamental than technique. It cannot be grounded in mere technique or strategy, but in the heart.
By Terrance D. Olson

How to Ask Questions that Open Up Communication
Unfortunately, most of us don’t grow up knowing how to effectively talk to people. But we can learn.
by Gary and Joy Lundberg

Turning Old Cliches into New Maxims: A Change is as Good as a Rest
A rested body renews itself and is more likely to stay free from illness, and a rested mind is more receptive to intuition, to little "nudges" or impressions or possibilities and to a clearer sense of priorities.
By Richard Eyre

Turning Old Cliches into New Maxims: Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan
Goals without plans or with fairly general plans have an interesting kind of power. We seem to move toward them almost subconsciously, as though they were magnets.
By Richard Eyre

Turning Old Cliches into New Maxims: Hurry Up!
When our motto is “hurry up,” there is always too much of things, of jobs, of obligations – and too little time.
By Richard Eyre

Turning Old Cliches into New Maxims: “Act, Don’t React”
Friends call at unexpected times. Sunsets surprise us. Ideas come along at random times. Circumstance change.
By Richard Eyre

Turning Old Cliches into New Maxims: Get Serious
We tell our children to "get serious" at the very time they are enjoying themselves most. And we trick ourselves into thinking that seriousness is synonymous with success.
By Richard Eyre

Turning Old Cliches into New Maxims: Work Before Play
Part Five
The interesting irony of today is that many of us are extremely good at work, and disciplined and dedicated to it – and very bad at play.
By Richard Eyre

Don’t Just Do Something, Sit There: Turning Old Clichés to New Maxims
Part Four
Thoughtful "sitting there" is rapidly becoming a lost art, stomped out by trying to do something every minute.

By Richard Eyre

Don’t Just Do Something, Sit There: Turning Old Clichés to New Maxims
Part Three
In an increasingly complex world, some things are less 'black and white' in terms of being worth doing well or not worth doing at all.
By Richard Eyre

Don’t Just Do Something, Sit There: Turning Old Clichés to New Maxims
Part Two
Procrastination can become a terrible habit; but, used selectively, it can actually be a great technique for helping us prioritize what really matters.
By Richard Eyre

Don’t Just Do Something, Sit There: Turning Old Clichés to New Maxims
Clichés often prompt unrealistic expectations, turn us into dissatisfied perfectionists, or give us inaccurate perceptions of the world around us.
By Richard Eyre

Column 12: Spiritual Empty Nest Parenting  
(Understanding That All of the Real Answers Are Spiritual)
When your children leave home, is it just a loss or a rich maturing of the family? How do you maintain a spiritual center for the family, when the kids have moved away?
by Richard and Linda Eyre

Column 11: Emotional Empty Nest Parenting
Finding the Balance Between “Hanging On” and “Letting Go”
You can never give too much love or support for your grown children, so long as you couple it with confidence in them and respect for their adult independence.
by Richard and Linda Eyre

Financial Emptying Nest Parenting
The Balance between Assistance and Independence
How do we give our children financial self-reliance and at the same time give them assistance when they need it?
by Richard and Linda Eyre

Empty Nest Parenting: The Power of Asking
Seems like we all have a lot of telling to do when it comes to guiding our kids. How about the more subtle and perhaps useful tool of asking?
by Richard and Linda Eyre

Politics and the Family: A Diabolical Plan to Destroy the Family
Column Five
If you wanted to destroy the family, here is how you would do it.
by Richard Eyre

Questions Regarding Grandparenting
Empty Nest Parenting

That glorious stage of grandparenting. What is the biggest difference between parenting and grandparenting and what exactly is your new role as grandparent?
by Richard and Linda Eyre

Politics and the Family:Family is the Basic Unit of Society
Are the Biggest Institutions Destroying the Smallest?
Column Four
The importance of the family may get lip service from our societal institutions, but the reality is a far cry from what we need to maintain a healthy, vibrant civilization.
by Richard Eyre

Questions About Your Child's Marriage
Empty Nest Parenting
Your child is newly married with a home of his/her own now. How does your role as parent change?
by Richard and Linda Eyre

Politics and the Family:The Top Ten Family Issues
Column 3
This week Richard lays out his "Top 10 List" for issues that affect the family most
by Richard Eyre

On Grocery Shopping with Children: Nurturing Spiritual Self-Reliance
In rearing children, external punishments and rewards are not nearly as effective as providing "conscience training."
by Elder L. Whitney Clayton and Kathy Clayton

Emptying Nest Parenting
Questions about Your Son’s or Daughter’s Work, Life, and Career

How much should you be involved in your child's career decisions, financial issues and even church activity once they leave the nest?
by Richard and Linda Eyre

Politics and the Family: Making Politics Serve the Family
Column 2
A major problem in our society today is that individual families, the cornerstone of society, are being neglected and forgotten by the very institutions and individuals that were created and elected to serve them.
by Richard M. Eyre

Growing Company Makes Modesty Fashionable
Parents as well as modesty-seeking teens rejoice at "clothing your father would approve of," marketed by Modest by Design.

by Laurie Williams Sowby

Politics and the Family: The Basic Unit of Society
Column 1
When we hear the phrase 'the family is the basic unit of society', do we really understand what that means with all of its implications?
By Richard M. Eyre

Emptying Nest Parenting “Leaving Home for the First Time”
Parents experience a whole gamut of new emotions when children leave home for the first time. This is not necessarily a bad thing.
by Richard and Linda Eyre

Emptying Nest Parenting : Eleven Essential Elements
All families that last and produce security and happiness for their members do have some fundamental things in common.
by Richard and Linda Eyre

The Law of the Fleas: The Nature of Freedom
There’s a time to nurture and to hold close and safe and secure, and there’s a time to take off the lid and encourage independent flight.
by Richard and Linda Eyre

Emptying Nest Parenting (Column III)
The right perspective can make the emptying nest phase of life more manageable and more approachable.
By Richard and Linda Eyre

The Lesson of the Tortoise
Almost everyone knows the story of Aesop's fable about the Tortoise and the Hare, but few know the real details.
By Richard and Linda Eyre

Emptying Nest Parenting
The children are finally gone and you're on your own. Who ya' gonna call? Empty nest busters!
By Richard and Linda Eyre

The Nature of Security -- The Law of the Redwoods Allegory
Redwoods grow straight and tall by interlocking roots. Families can grow and stay together by using a like method.
By Richard and Linda Eyre

Readers Share Heartaches and Solutions about Children Who Have Strayed

Many ask, why hasn't the Lord answered my heart-felt prayers to bring my children back into the Church?
By Darla Isackson

"Every Knee Shall Bow" -- Comfort for a Grieving Parent
Does a parent ever become fully reconciled to having a beloved child leave the Church? How do you live with the grief, and the tidal wave of regrets you sometimes feel?
By Darla Isackson

Emptying Nest Parenting
Families may be forever, but what is our role as parents once the children move out?
by Richard and Linda Eyre

The Nature of Communication
The Law of the Whales

The beauty of whale songs is a poignant lesson in family communication.
By Richard and Linda Eyre

The Nature of Discipline: The Law of the Elephant's Trunk
This week the Eyre's delight us with the 'Law of the Elephant's Trunk'. It is an allegory reminding us that love without discipline can affect a result opposite of what we desire. On the other hand parental love that is too demanding and too harsh doesn't feel much like love at all. Read how 'The Lesson of the Elephant's Trunk' is the fine balance between tough love and tender love.
by Richard and Linda Eyre

On Guard! Seven Safeguards to Protect Your Sexual Purity
By Gary & Joy Lundberg
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 12
Part 13
Part 14

The Gift of “The Word”
Being a lover of words, it intrigues me that Jesus, whose birth we celebrate this month, is called “the Word.”
by Darla Isackson

The Overwhelmed Woman and the Feminist Movement
For centuries, women had a tiny palette of colors to choose from, a limited number of options open to them. I was shocked when I learned how limited.
by Darla Isackson

Who Me--A Liar?
Are Parents Liars When They Talk and Don’t Act?
by Darla Isackson

The Lesson of the Bear: Helping Kids Become Responsible
Richard and Linda continue their series of articles about the importance of following our best natural instincts as parents.
by Richard and Linda Eyre

Teen Sex: What’s a Parent to Do?
Seven safeguards to help your Teenagers do the right thing

by Darla Isackson

What Does Autumn Have to Do With Repentance
Seeing the hand of God in all seasons helps us understand the Gospel more fully. Come explore the implications of Autumn on our souls.

by Darla Isackson

Why is this the Wrong Question? Part 2
Even though we had no control over the outward actions of others, we can choose our inner response to their actions.

by Darla Isackson

Why is this the Wrong Question?
How can I get control of my life, my child, this current situation?

by Darla Isackson

The Lesson of the Crabs: Praise, Support, and Positive Affirmation
Richard and Linda continue their series of articles about the importance of following our best natural instincts as parents.
by Richard and Linda Eyre

The Lesson of the Geese
Richard and Linda, in many of their recent parenting lectures have been emphasizing the importance of following our best natural instincts as parents. Along those lines, they present several "natural lessons from nature." One of these is "The Lesson of the Geese."
by Richard and Linda Eyre

Return Every Man to His House
This past week has been a week filled with emotions. From the horror of the morning of September 11, to the tears of gratitude as we gathered to hear our prophet and the sweet strains of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing "God Bless America." The question that now seems to loom before us is, "What next?"
by Colleen Down

Book Excerpt from It Takes a Mother to Raise a Village
I Didn’t Picture It This Way
Mommy Knows Best
Wells, Tupperware, and Prozac

by Colleen Down

The Art of Life is to Get the Message
The quiet but powerful voice of the Comforter spoke peace: my children would be okay. As I drove home alone, the storm became a cold drizzle, but I wept warm tears of relief, thankfulness, and newfound courage.
by Darla Isackson

The Brethren and the Lord: A Letter to My Children
Part I
Part II
by Duane Boyce

Better than Punishment
You may not need to resort to punishment to change a child's course.
by Duane Boyce

Crossing the Sweetwater of Our Hearts
We could hardly believe what the Spirit whispered to us about our son.
by Scot and Maurine Proctor

All of the following "Re-valu-ing the Family" articles are by Richard and Linda Eyre
(www.valuesparenting.com)

Re-valu-ing the Family, Part One: Turning the Hearts
". . . turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to the fathers . . . less the earth be cursed."—Malachi 4:6 (the last verse of the Old Testament) What does this mean? . . . Where are our hearts? . . . What is the curse?

Re-valu-ing the Family, Part Two: Family as the "CRUX"
crux (kruks) n. the basic, central, or critical point or feature... The family is the crux of society. Understanding what is happening to families is the crux of understanding today's world. Reïvaluïing the family is the crux of reviving both the micro of individual happiness and the macro of societal order and safety.

 

Re-valu-ing the Family, Part Three: Family as the "CRUX" (continued)
The family is the nucleus, like the center of an atom or the core of a tree, making everything else possible, providing the building blocks of procreation and nurturing from which all else is formed.

 

Re-valu-ing the Family, Part Four: The "Curse" That Dooms American Families
The malignancy and terror of what we benignly call "social problems" is torturing individuals and blackmailing society. It is an economic, political, moral, and personal curse -- truly a scourge. And it comes in response to wrong-turned hearts.

Re-valu-ing the Family, Part Five: The "Curse" That Dooms American Families (Continued)
The social problems that are overwhelming this country must be cured. But the medicine we're using isn't working. We're treating the symptoms. We're taking aspirin.

Re-valuing the Family, Part Six: The Crisis That Exists for Families Today

crisis (kri'ses) n. 1. an exceedingly serious situation; 2. a critical or decisive point or situation, a turning point, as in a story where a conflict reaches its highest tension and must be resolved.

Re-valu-ing the Family, Part Seven: The Crisis Continues—How Family Problems Cause Social Problems
Common sense as well as irrefutable statistics tell us of the connections between the breakup of marriages and breakdown of families and the savage increase in our nation's social problems. But which is the cause and which is the effect?

Re-valu-ing the Family, Part Eight: The Cause of Family Breakdown
How our newest, largest institutions are destroying the oldest, smallest institution of family. Social problems are the symptoms, broken families are the illness. Larger institutions are the bacteria or "germs." Eroding values and false paradigms are the deficiency in our immune system.

Re-valu-ing the Family, Part Nine: The Four Sectors of Society and How the "Outer Three" are Squeezing the Family
The family, and its basic purposes and functions, is being swallowed up, undermined, and rendered irrelevant by our larger institutions. The family is the victim and the larger institutions, whether purposefully or innocently, are the culprits.

Re-valu-ing the Family, Part Ten: How Outer Sector "Sins" Hurt the Family
The public sector, rife with sins of commission and omission, is damaging the family.

Re-valu-ing the Family, Part Eleven: Continuing the "Cause"—How "Paradigm Problems" Contribute to the Mess
Why don’t families have more resistance against the perils inflicted on them by the three bigger, outer sections? Because we don’t fully see the danger!

Re-valu-ing the Family, Part Twelve: The Culprits—Who We Blame for How Hard It Is to be a Functional Family Today
Part 12 begins our discussion of the "culprits" . . . the forces that, often unintentionally, are destroying our families and making it almost impossibly hard to be a parent in today's world.

Re-valu-ing the Family, Part Thirteen: Culprits' and Their Characteristics—What They Do for and to Families
There is nothing families need more than employment and income. Yet, ironically, more and more of the institutions that provide these things, in their own efforts of self-preservation and growth, have become a destructive force operating against the best interests of families.

Re-valu-ing the Family, Part Fourteen: Culprits' and Their Characteristics (Continued)
A closer look at the "family damage" that is done by entertainment and media institutions, information and communication institutions, and political and governmental institutions.

Re-valu-ing the Family, Part Fifteen: Culprits' and Their Characteristics (Concluded)
From schools to "self-help" institutions, courts to recreational clubs, powerful organizations are harming the family.

Re-valu-ing the Family, Part Sixteen: The Cure!
In this week's column, having now finished our discussion of the "curse," the "cause," and the "culprits," we now move to the more positive territory of the "cure."

Re-valu-ing the Family, Part Seventeen: The Cure and Recommitment
This week, in part 17, we continue with the "cure" and focus on the power of recommitment.

Re-valu-ing the Family, Part Eighteen: Substituting Correct Principles for False Paradigms
This week we look at the tremendous challenge of teaching true principles in a false world.

Re-valu-ing the Family, Part Nineteen: A New Kind of Time Management
In this installment, we continue our seven part "cure" (see the end of installment 16 for the seven-part list) with some thoughts on a new kind of time management.

Re-valu-ing the Family, Part Twenty: What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Families
This week, in part 20, we discuss phase four and five of the "cure" -- being careful of larger institutions and insisting on open communication within the family.

Re-valu-ing the Family, Part Twenty-one: Create Identity, Security, and Motivation for Children
This week, in part 21, we're going to go with a much longer installment than usual in order to cover several important elements that can create true and long lasting identity, security and motivation in our children and thus protect them from the negative directions of the world.

Re-valu-ing the Family, Part Twenty-two: "Values Therapy" to Build a Self-image for Life
The trouble with so much of what we call "parenting" is that it's a defense rather than an offense.

Re-valu-ing the Family, Part Twenty-three: What We Wish Larger Institutions Would Do
We should ask public institutions in every forcible way we can think of to stop any practice or policy that threatens families and to start giving us more help in raising the children that are their future as well as ours.

Re-valu-ing the Family, Part Twenty-four: What Business and Media Could Do for Families
Large private, public, and nonprofit institutions make countless thousands of decisions, policies, and choices of direction and orientation every day which affect families. What could they do for the benefit of families?

Re-valu-ing the Family, Part Twenty-five: The Eyre's Wish List on How Society Could Help the Family
In this installment we conclude our thoughts on what several additional public and private institutions should be doing to strengthen and preserve families.

 

Against All Odds
J.D. prayed hard for a little brother and sister, but he didn't expect the handicapped children his parents brought home.
by Cherie Taylor Pedersen

When Trouble Comes Knocking
We had prayed, counseled, and argued with our daughter for almost two years to no avail.
by Marjorie Hasler

 

 

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