Raising kids is hard. And some days it feels lonley and overwhelming. Over my years of parenting I’ve come to rely on the women who support and help me. My village. These women help me talk through concerns and worries as well as help me celebrate happy things. It has been on my mind a lot lately how thankful I am for them.
Recently while reading my scriptures I reread a favorite story in the Book of Mormon about Alma and his son Alma the younger. At this time, Alma is the prophet of God. Alma the younger and his good friends, the sons of Mosiah, are not living the way they were taught by their parents. They were living a riotous life including going around purposely fighting against the church. It must have been terribly difficult for the prophet Alma and his friend King Mosiah to have children who are so antagonistic against the church.
God intervenes in the boy’s lives and sends an angel to call them back to repentance. That experience shocks them so completely that Alma the younger is put into some kind of a comatose state where he won’t wake up.
The sons of Mosiah bring Alma the Younger to their father. “And they rehearsed unto his father all that had happened unto them, and his father rejoiced, for he knew it was the power of God.” (Mosiah 27:20)
I love the awareness of Alma in this story and the power of a father who prayed so intently for his child that he brought the powers of heaven down in the form of an angel (Mosiah 27:14). I have also always loved how this story teaches us about the reformation of the lives of Alma the younger and the sons of Mosiah.
When last reading this section of scriptures, the thing I noticed was how Alma gathered others to pray for his child. “And he caused that a multitude should be gathered together that they might witness what the Lord had done for his son, and also for those that were with him. And he caused that the priests should assemble themselves together; and they began to fast and to pray to the Lord their God….and it came to pass after they had fasted and prayed for the space of two days and two nights, the limbs of Alma received their strength.” (Mosiah 27:21-23)
Alma gathered others so that they could witness what the Lord had done but also I think he gathered them for the collective faith power of the Priests. He gathered others of faith to pray for his child.
The saying “it takes a village” has truth in it. Our children are blessed when there are others in their lives. These others come through youth leaders, their friend’s parents, teachers and others.
I have women in my life who are my support system. When I am worried or concerned for my children, they are my sounding board. Some of us were together the other evening and one friend shared an experience her son was going through that was tough. She then said “so if you could pray for _________ too, then I’d be eternally grateful.” That has stuck in my mind.
I want to be a part of those who are gathering in prayer and faith to help the children of my friends. And I am so grateful for those who pray in faith over my children and their needs. We need the faith and prayers of others to help sustain us and our families. To do this, we have to let others in. It doesn’t mean you have to share every single detail of your family’s concerns and trails with others. But there is power to be found when we support each other in parenting.
I believe strongly in the power of collective prayer. Great miracles can happen when we join each other in petitioning God for blessings. Gather a village of other parents who will support and encourage and pray for your children. And be that village for others. We’ll all be blessed in the process.
Rhonda is our Digital Illustrator and part of our Content Team.
Rhonda is a life long member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints thanks to her parents joining the church when they were younger.
Rhonda was married to her love, Regan, in 2000 and together they have 5 unique, creative, incredibly smart kids. Rhonda feels completely overwhelmed with the many humans she must boss around.
They love music in their house of all kinds (really except Rap) from the different lessons her kids take to the various basement concerts they host.
Rhonda likes to pretend she’s organized, but really she’s an unorganized spontaneous creative extrovert. She’s interested in learning everything and seeing everywhere and anywhere.
Rhonda loves traveling and seeing different places but Waterton Parks, Alberta, Canada is her favorite place to visit.
Rhonda is a bit obsessed with bread (in fact a “bread head”) and she loves baking and cooking anything, especially if it is difficult to bake. She doesn’t go many days without baking something. She loves pretty much all good food and her husband teases her that she’s a food snob but she’ll kindly accept any treats you want to make her.
Rhonda is a professional photographer, a “for fun” painter, an obsessive memory keeper, a quick reader, and a lover of nature. She will talk to pretty much anyone and loves making new friends and considers herself great at friend matching – helping match people who be good friends with each other.
Rhonda is terrible at saying no to things so she’s currently sitting on 3 town boards in her lovely town of Raymond, Alberta, Canada. She loves to discuss the different aspects of the gospel and currently serves as a ward gospel doctrine teacher.
Rhonda currently resides in Alberta, Canada.
You can connect with Rhonda on Instagram, on Facebook, on her Website, at Artful Heart, or on any of A Worldwide Sisterhood’s platforms.