In Alma chapter 17 verse 27 of the Book of Mormon it talks about how the servants brought the sheep to the water and a certain number of Lamanites scattered the sheep"that they fled many ways." As our children grow there may be times when they may flee in a direction that is not desirable. So let's look at how Ammon handled the situation when his sheep were already scattered.
In verse 28-29 it says the other servants began to weep saying "Behold our flocks are scattered already. Now they wept because of the fear of being slain." These servants believed that it was too late and they showed fear. Fear is the opposite of faith. Of course we know Ammon reacted with perfect faith. He knew he could use the power of God he had within him to help the situation and help others to believe in the gospel. He demonstrated his faith by going to work.
In verse 31-33 Ammon told the servants that they should
1. Go in search of the flocks and gather them together
2. Bring them to the place of water
3. Use much swiftness
4. Encircle the flocks round about that they flee not
First, we need to go in search of our "flocks" and gather them together. Where are the places that we should gather our families? I thought of church meeting and activities, family home evening, family prayer and scripture study, the temple, around the dinner table, and wholesome recreational activities. Of course these are all things we know we should do, but do we sometimes forget their importance?
Second, we need to bring them to the place of water. The scriptures often speak of the living water. This living water is Christ and his gospel. The scriptures are a huge reservoir of this water. We should be drinking from this water ourselves as well as leading our children to the "place of water' or the scriptures.
Third, we need to use much swiftness. One thing I thought of is teaching our children while they are young. Another way to use much swiftness is the longer we wait to take action when we recognize a problem the larger the problem will get. Do not waste time in despair thinking it is too late. It is never too late. However, the longer the child is away the more difficult it may be to find them and gather them back in. Trust your instincts and act even if the problem seems small. You may be only seeing the tip of the ice burg and the problem may be bigger than you realize. Never give up!
Fourth, we need to encircle the flocks round about that they flee not. The word encircle reminds me of being encircled in the loving arms of Christ. We also need to encircle them with our own love and have the power and influence of the Spirit in our homes.
As I was reading this account from the scriptures I realized that if Ammon had had a fence his job of keeping the flocks from scattering would have been much easier. Even though it was not possible for Ammon to have a fence, we certainly can have "fences" or boundaries in place in our home. There are rules and boundaries that should be set in our homes in order to keep children protected from the scattering influences of Satan.
Moving on further into the story, once Ammon had gathered his sheep together how did he keep them protected from the Lamanites who were trying to scatter them? In Alma chapter 17 verse 36 it says that Ammon used his sling to cast stones at them with mighty power and slew a certain number of them. Stones may seem like ordinary things. Sometimes we hear about saying prayers, reading scriptures, and attending church so much we consider them ordinary. However, they are a source of great power for us in fighting off the influences of Satan. Ammon could not use the stones without first having armed himself with them before the fight and having practiced a lot with his sling on a regular basis. You will not be able to use the power of the scriptures and prayer for your protection if you do not arm yourselves ahead of time and practice using them.
When the Lamanites saw that Ammon could not be hit with their stones they did not give up. They took a more direct approach by coming directly at him with clubs. Satan will also be persistent and try different approaches in tempting us and our children to sin. In the scriptures the arm is used as a symbol for power - such as when it refers to the arm of the Lord. Also, in reading Isaiah I learned that the sword is often a symbol for the word of God. If you are unfamiliar with this account I will tell you that Ammon smote off the arm of each Lamanite that came at him with a club. So we could look deeper and say when the Lamanites came at Ammon to bring him to destruction he literally cut off their power with the word of God.
Quote from Elder Lawrence from the October 2010 conference talk Courageous Parenting "Parents need courage to say yes to the counsel of modern day prophets. Our church leaders have counseled us to establish righteous patterns in our homes. Consider 5 fundamental practices that have power to fortify our youth: family prayer, family scripture study, family home evening, family dinner together, and regular one on one interviews with each child. . . Try to imagine what the rising generation could become if these 5 righteous patterns were practiced consistently in every home. Our young people could be like Helaman's army: invincible."
Alma 57:25-26 ". . . according to the goodness of God, and to our great astonishment, and also the joy of our whole army, there was not one soul of them who did perish; yea, and neither was there one soul among them who had not received many wounds. And now, their preservation was astonishing to our whole army, yea, that they should be spared while there was a thousand of our brethren who were slain. And we do justly ascribe it to the miraculous power of God, because of their exceeding faith in that which they had been taught to believe that there was a just God, and whosoever did not doubt, that they should be preserved by his marvelous power."
