Comments about ‘Mormon Parenting: We don't 'own' our children, but we can make an enormous difference in their lives’

Great article, we raised 3 children and I agree that they are born with their own different personalities and that they definitely cannot be "molded"--maybe directed a little by working with them very patiently.

Chaim Potok wrote a book titled: "I am the Clay." He speaks to the Old Testament ideal of the potter (God) and the potter's clay (us). As parents we may, for a while, begin to turn the wheel and shape the clay, but we are unwise to think of ourselves as the potter. We are but fellow travelers along a road that is often bewildering and strange. But through it, we are shaped and re-shaped by each other and by God.

We may have much of what we are stamped upon us before we arrive. We may be prisoners of genetics, time and chance, but we can decide how to respond to our circumstances.

Perhaps the only thing we can give our children is an example of submission to God, and determination to remain true as we tread the broken glass, unmet expectations and difficulties that drive us to our knees and into each others arms.

Perhaps the only real thing we can give our children is the ability to find joy in the journey.

Perhaps all we can really teach is how to love and beloved.