"Help them to know they are loved"

As I was saying my morning prayers this morning I heard myself saying something that I say in almost every one of my personal prayers.  As any mother does, I pray daily for my children -that they will be happy -that they will be safe -and for whatever the individual child may be struggling with on that particular day. But the one thing I find that I say in almost every prayer with sincere pleading and yearning is that they will now they are loved. There is so much hate in the world around us. More then anything I could ever teach them -I want them to know they are loved -not only by their parents but by heavenly parents and an elder brother Jesus Christ. That when the world seems to be against them -they can lean on that knowledge.

We have all had times in our lives when we have felt completely alone. I have talked before of some of my college years. They were the "best of times and the worst of times". The perioud of young adulthood was where I was forced to really come to terms with who I was and what I wanted out of life. I have talked about my sophmore year before -but it was a time of soul searching and of feeling utterly alone. I remember one time I decided to leave BYU campus and take a bus up to Salt Lake City alone to just wander the temple visitors center. During that visit, I watched one of the videos that was playing at that time in the visitors center "Our Heavenly Fathers Plan" I think is what it was called. It is corny as ever! But during it -they sing Michael McCleans songs "Your not Alone" And the spirit struck me! I felt so strongly at that moment -that I was not alone. That God was aware of me and that even if no one else knew what I was going through, he knew and cared. I was going to post this song but honestly the corniness of it and how outdated it is -just takes away from the spirit of it I think . I will just post the words. For me, that day, it was an avenue for the spirit to speak to my spirit.

Your not Alone

Here’s a little song to help you get along.

It will see you through when you’re feeling blue.

And though it’s not profound when you’re feeling down, so down,

Sing this little tune, and you’ll feel better soon.

You’re not alone, even when you’re feeling on your own,

You are loved in ways that can’t be shown; your needs are known;

You’re not alone.

And when you cry, you’re just letting go of heartache deep inside,

And tomorrow there’ll be sunshine and sky and love close by;

You’re not alone.

And we know that it’s not easy, but we know that it won’t last,

’cause one that loves you more than me is sending blessings fast.

You’re not alone, say it one more time,

“I’m not alone,”

And even when it’s hard to find the words, our prayers are heard;

We’re not alone.

You’re not alone.

There are too many children (and adults)-who don't know they are loved. I can still remember listening to President Hinkly's powerful talk in conference of April 1994 called Behold Your Little Ones. That year I started an internship for my masters program at a residential treatment center in Boston for troubled kids -most who had been taken out of their parents custody for abuse and maltreatment. I learned quickly that I did not want to continue my professional career there. It was too hard for me to see the suffering children. President Hinkley said,

"Children are the epitome of innocence; they are the epitome of purity; they are the essence of love; they are the essence of hope and gladness in this difficult and troubled world.

And yet there are millions who are abused, who are neglected, who become victims of anger and abject selfishness and evil of the worst kind.

 

Surely it is time to awaken within people everywhere an increased awareness of the terrible offense toward God, our Eternal Father, that is given whenever a child is made to suffer. Sad to say, evidence of that suffering is all about us.

 

There is tragedy in the land, much of it. I suppose there has always existed abuse of children, but it seems to have increased in tragic dimensions. Possibly it is because we are made more aware of it. Regardless, the time has come to do more than we are now doing. Look about us at children born of drug-addicted mothers, children who may never escape the terrible handicaps that have come with life itself; children, not a few, who are beaten, neglected, abandoned, sexually assaulted, who will never entirely get away from the trauma of their troubled lives; children who are the victims of famine and war.

 

Well did the Savior say: “Whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matt. 18:6).

 

For children of the Church everywhere, for the children of the entire world, we invoke the blessings of the Lord upon them that they may be in larger measure protected from evil, that they may grow in righteousness, that they may walk with love for God, who is the father of each of us. We invoke blessings upon their parents that they may protect their little ones, that they may nurture them, that they may teach them those truths which will bring them peace all the days of their lives. For, as the writer of Proverbs states, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22:6).

 

“Behold your little ones.” God bless your little ones wherever they may be"

I feel so blessed to be in the profession I have chosen of social work, becuase daily I feel that it is my work to let others know that they are loved-that they have worth. I am so blessed to get a glimpse into so many people souls. Trials humble us and strip us of pretense and that is when I get to meet people.  As I meet with them, the prayer in my heart is always "let them know they are loved". May you each know that you are loved and be an instrument to let others know they are loved.

How can you access gods love for your more fully? How can you give yourself the love you deserve, when the world is not able to give you what you need?