As a fellow parent, let me be a little personal and share the nature of this prompting with you and then ask for your inputs.

The thought sequence goes something like this:

• Family is the basic unit of almost everything--our communities, our society, our economy, our idea of eternity.
• Virtually all our problems, micro and macro, from economic to moral, have their roots in inadequately functioning families.
• I believe that the unfolding of God's plan and even the ultimate Government of God is all reliant on sound families
• Perhaps this is why the scripture says we must turn the hearts of the fathers to their children....lest the whole earth (the whole plan of mortality) be "wasted", lest the whole earth be "cursed".
• Is it the responsibility of those who feel this concern, this urgency, and these connections to just try to strengthen their own families, or the families in their own church, or should we be actively engaged in doing whatever we can to strengthen all families? (Can we become the yeast, or the leaven in the loaf, or the catalysts who work to influence various segments of society to pay more attention to the well being of families....to do less to hurt them and more to help them?)
• Should we think of strong, united, functional families as the ultimate goal or purpose, and everything else that is good and worthy, even our churches, as a means to that end?
• (A great religious leader, Harold B. Lee, said that "the Church is mere scaffolding, with which we build eternal families.")

It is that sequence of thought that has caused us to adopt, as the vision statement for our little speaking and writing company, "FORTIFY FAMILIES by popularizing parenting, validating values, and bolstering balance."

But the point (and the prompting) is that we need to do more than just speak or write about it. We need to organize! We need to build a grassroots coalition that gains more of a critical mass and that can begin to influence the "engines" that set the directions and the tone in our society.....the media....the corporate world.....education....government and politics....

So for what it is worth, we are now organizing something called "The Scaffolding Coalition" which will, for starters, be just an on-line group of people who feel the same way and who believe that strengthening families may be the ultimate cause.

One way to work for families is to fight against things that can undermine them....against the redefining of marriage, against "acceptable" infidelity, against liberalized abortion. But another way, and one not getting nearly enough attention and focus, is to work for the things that can strengthen and popularize and prioritize families and help people want to do better in their own homes.

Uniting and sharing ideas is a way to start, and can lead to the organization of committees that seek to be catalysts in helping various "engines" (media, corporate entities, education, government, not profits, publications, etc) to understand that anything positive that they can do for families will produce both image and bottom line benefits to themselves. But I am getting ahead of myself. More on those directions (and on those engines in subsequent e mails. For now, I just wanted to introduce the idea of The Scaffolding Coalition, and to invite you to be a part of it and to share your thoughts on what I've just said.

You don't have to actually do anything, for now, except think. Just keep an eye on this web page, and I will pass on other things periodically, and continue to ask for your input and feedback as we try to figure out how The Scaffolding Coalition can make a difference. We will soon have sub committees set up (one for each identified "engine of change" that can do more to help and strengthen families in society) and you will have the opportunity to join one of them and get actively involved in being a "family catalyst."

Drop me a quick note at eyres1@comcast.net and let me know what you think!

Linda joins in sending our Love and Blessings, and all our best, Rick