Family Proclamation Photo Essay

Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God.

The family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.

All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. 

Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. 

Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.

Those are some powerful statements (taken from The Family: A Proclamation to the World), and I know that they are true. Last year I dedicated my photo essay to our oldest grandchild, who just happens to be a boy. The next two grandchildren are girls. I love being female! There are so many awesome things I can do because of that. I hope they grow up to feel the same way. 

The following pictures show just some of the many facets of their Aunt Michelle's life, (and there are even a couple of pictures of their moms and dads as well). Families are precious. I'm so grateful we have direction from living prophets to help us strengthen our families and learn to enjoy them forever!

IN THE PREMORTAL REALM, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshipped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize their divine destiny as heirs of eternal life.  

We declare that God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force. 

We affirm the sanctity of life and of its importance in God’s eternal plan.

Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness,  

to provide for their physical and spiritual needs,

 and to teach them to love and serve one another.

 Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children.

By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families 

 in love and righteousness 

and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. 

Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, 

 repentance, forgiveness, 

 respect, love, 

compassion, work, 

 and wholesome recreational activities. 

 The family is ordained of God.

Aunt Michelle is happy because she has a family who loves her. I hope you grow up feeling great joy because you, too, have lots of family members who love you dearly. Even better, you have a Heavenly Father who loves you as well. We're so glad He sent you to join our family here on earth.

Remember always to follow in your parents' footsteps and live worthy to enter the temple some day.

It's definitely worth the effort required.

In the meantime, just have fun being toddlers!!!

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Family Proclamation Photo Essays from years past:

2011 - for my parents

2012 - for Wyatt

And you can find others on this year's blog hop: Family Proclamation Photo Essays.  Enjoy everybody's creativity and have your testimonies strengthened at the same time. Thanks for stopping by!