Julie B. Beck, a former General Relief Society President, said:

“Mothers who know do less. They permit less of what will not bear good fruit eternally. They allow less media in their homes, less distraction, less activity that draws their children away from their home. Mothers who know are willing to live on less and consume less of the world’s goods in order to spend more time with their children—more time eating together, more time working together, more time reading together, more time talking, laughing, singing, and exemplifying. These mothers choose carefully and do not try to choose it all. Their goal is to prepare a rising generation of children who will take the gospel of Jesus Christ into the entire world. Their goal is to prepare future fathers and mothers who will be builders of the Lord’s kingdom for the next 50 years. That is influence; that is power.”

 Let’s examine the above paragraph again. Look at the first line. That is the baseline for Deep River Parents. “Mothers who know do less.” And, “They permit less of what will not bear good fruit eternally.”

How do we know what is the best “less”?

I wrote about the book Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown here, here and here.

Every family is different so there isn’t a one size fits all. But we, in each of our families, get to choose what is essential for us, each day. Another gem from Sister Julie Beck is “these mothers choose carefully and do not try to choose it all.” Less, but better.