The family unit is fundamental not only to society and to the Church, but to our hope for eternal life.

As we do what He would have us do for His children, the Lord considers it kindness to Him, and we will feel closer to Him as we feel His love and His approval. In time, we will become like Him, and will think of the judgement day with happy anticipation.

We so easily forget that we came into life with nothing. Whatever we get soon seems our natural right, not a gift. And we forget the giver. Then our gaze shifts from what we have been given to what we dont have yet. . . .

Parents should teach their children to pray. The child learns both from what the parents do and what they say. The child who sees a mother or a father pass through the trials of life with fervent prayer to God and then hears a sincere testimony that God answered in kindness will remember what he or she saw and heard. When trials come, that individual will be prepared.

Our human tendency is to be impatient with the person who cannot see the truth that is so plain to us. We must be careful that our impatience is not interpreted as condemnation or rejection.

Have you felt, as I have, the impression to help someone only to find that what you were inspired to give was exactly what someone needed at that very moment? That is a wonderful assurance that God knows all of our needs and counts on us to fill the needs of others around us.

Your calling is to bless lives. . . . Just the way you smile or the way you offer to help someone can build their faith.