When Tiana is younger, she loves her mother and father, and respects them both. She especially loves her father, and learns many lessons from him that she carries throughout the rest of her life. As she sings the song titled "Almost There," she sings the lyrics:
I remember Daddy told me,
Fairy tales can come true.
But you have to make it happen;
It all depends on you!
So I work real hard, each and every day;
Good things are sure to come my way!
And later, in the song "When We're Human" we hear these lyrics:
What you give is what you get;
My Daddy taught me that and I'll never forget!
These were valuable lessons learned by Tiana, not just from the things her father said, but more importantly the things he did. She learned to work hard to make her dreams come true (a lesson that is often not learned in our day), and so she works two jobs, everyday, so that one day she can have her dream of owning a restaurant.
Our families are ordained of God, meaning that our Heavenly Father, in His infinite love, placed us on this earth in a family. This is something that He arranged before we came here, and it is unalterable (this is the meaning of ordained in this context). Now, none of our families are perfect. We even see this in The Princess and The Frog: Tiana's father dies sometime between when she is a toddler and when she is a young adult. I'm sure this was an incredibly hard challenge for she and her mother to go through, but they had a foundation of love in their family, and so instead of crying every night about life not being fair because her father was dead, Tiana honored his memory by living the things he taught her.
Let's look at another example from another one of my favorites: Tangled. We see in this film two very different families: Rapunzel's real family, who love her and were overjoyed to have her in their lives, and heartbroken past expression when she was stolen; a family based on love and other things, which are principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We also see the "family" Mother Gothel has created for herself and Rapunzel, a "family" that wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for the selfishness of Mother Gothel and her obsession with staying beautiful and young forever; this family is based upon selfishness, greed, and other such feelings and attributes, which are in direct opposition to those found in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Let's look at another example from another one of my favorites: Tangled. We see in this film two very different families: Rapunzel's real family, who love her and were overjoyed to have her in their lives, and heartbroken past expression when she was stolen; a family based on love and other things, which are principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We also see the "family" Mother Gothel has created for herself and Rapunzel, a "family" that wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for the selfishness of Mother Gothel and her obsession with staying beautiful and young forever; this family is based upon selfishness, greed, and other such feelings and attributes, which are in direct opposition to those found in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
When our families are built on a foundation of love, happiness will follow. This does not mean perfection, but there will be a greater sense of happiness and peace in our families if we are built on this foundation of love. Our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, are the perfect examples of love. We read in the scriptures:
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16
The Savior showed his love for us when He performed the Atonement, which constitutes His suffering in the garden of Gethsemane, His suffering and death on the cross, culminating in His resurrection. What a selfless act of love that was! I know that He truly did that, and He did it because He loves each of us. Even if it had just been for one of us, He would have done it. It's difficult to comprehend, isn't it? We've all felt love from someone in our lives: parents, siblings, friends, etc., but the love Heavenly Father and the Savior have for us is past comprehension to our finite minds.
I think the closest we can get to understanding the love God has for us is from our mothers. I don't know about you, but my Mom is pretty awesome. And considering I'm making this post so close to Mother's Day, she had to get a shout out!
My mother (and father, for that matter) have stuck with me through so much! I was not the perfect child, people! I was rebellious and rude and everything parents like mine don't deserve. Yet, through late night arguments, cold shoulders, and downright disobedience, my Mom loved me. Sure, she disagreed with some of my bad choices, and didn't like some of the things I was doing, but she loved me; our Heavenly Father is the same way! He always loves us, and is waiting for us to come back to Him. He has provided a way for us to do that, and our families will be stronger and happier when they are built upon this foundation.
I'd like to finish with the rest of the lyrics from the song I started this post with, which is entitled Families Can Be Together Forever:
I think the closest we can get to understanding the love God has for us is from our mothers. I don't know about you, but my Mom is pretty awesome. And considering I'm making this post so close to Mother's Day, she had to get a shout out!
My mother (and father, for that matter) have stuck with me through so much! I was not the perfect child, people! I was rebellious and rude and everything parents like mine don't deserve. Yet, through late night arguments, cold shoulders, and downright disobedience, my Mom loved me. Sure, she disagreed with some of my bad choices, and didn't like some of the things I was doing, but she loved me; our Heavenly Father is the same way! He always loves us, and is waiting for us to come back to Him. He has provided a way for us to do that, and our families will be stronger and happier when they are built upon this foundation.
I'd like to finish with the rest of the lyrics from the song I started this post with, which is entitled Families Can Be Together Forever:
I have a family here on earth
They are so good to me
I want to share my life with them
Through all eternity
Families can be together forever
Through Heavenly Father's plan
I always want to be with my own family
And the Lord has shown me how I can!
Want to learn more about why families are so important? Visit: http://www.mormon.org/faq/topic/family
Want to have your heart warmed by a video about moms? Click Here!
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