MOTHERHOOD
"Mothers are
endowed with a love that is unlike any other love on the face of the
earth."
Marjorie Pay
Hinckley
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As mothers, it can
be easy to forget the holy calling we have to raise and nurture our children.
In between wiping faces and cleaning up toys there is a wrestle to get teeth
brushed and a tired meltdown at the end of the day. The play-by-play in the
daily life of a mother is anything but glamorous and trouble-free. But when the
feelings of exhaustion and inadequacy surface, there is a little voice that can
be heard reminding you that your work is important, your role is divine. It may
take a chorus of encouragers and supporters to buoy you up on a hard day, but
the truth that they speak is there. Motherhood is a heavenly calling and your
children are tender spirits sent to you by a Father in Heaven who knows the
potential and love you have as their mother.
I chose this topic
for my application portion of this project. I noticed myself slipping as a
loving, gentle, kind mother. In enduring my earthly cares and trials, I was
putting myself first and the happiness of my children a distant second. As I
read and studied talks, articles, and the quotes listed below, I rediscovered a
desire to be the kind of mother I know my Heavenly Father sees in me. I started
to see my children in a better, brighter light and recognized that I, along
with my husband, am who they look to for comfort, safety, and unconditional
love. In applying the teachings I studied, I set aside more time to interact
with my children. I’ve taken more walks with them, spent more one-on-one time
with each of them, and made a greater point to teach them the gospel that is
central to our family and home. I placed a picture of Christ in a place where I
can see it while I interact with my children, so that the knowledge of my
eternal role and their spiritual needs are always in the forefront of my mind.
In doing these things, I feel a closer connection to them. My patience with
them and myself is greater. I give them longer hugs and see their spirits where
before I simply saw earthly bodies and minds. During the hard days (because
there will always be hard days) I haven’t felt as hopeless or as much of a
failure as I have in the past. I kneel each night and ask Heavenly Father for
more guidance and for the ability to better recognize spiritual promptings to
help me be better the following day. I now know that I can use the atonement
and apply it to my concerns and struggles as a mother. I can look to my Savior
and know that he understands and will ease my burdens. And in all of these
lessons, I have a genuine and sincere joy in motherhood that had previously
been lost somewhere along the way.
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"Parents should teach
their children to pray. The child learns both from what the parents do and
what they say. The child who sees a mother or a father pass through the trials
of life with fervent prayer to God and then hears a sincere testimony that God
answered in kindness will remember what he or she saw and heard. When trials
come, that individual will be prepared.”
Henry B Eyring /
That He May Write Upon Our Hearts / Liahona August 2009
"Parenthood
is a sacred privilege, and depending upon faithfulness, it can be an eternal
blessing. The ultimate end of all activity in the Church is that a man and his
wife and their children can be happy at home."
Boyd K
Packer / The Witness / April 2014 General Conference
“One of the great
discoveries of parenthood is that we learn far more about what really matters
from our children than we ever did from our parents.”
Boyd K Packer / Anda Little Child Shall Lead Them / April 2012 General Conference
"Would our
perspective be more clear if we could, for a moment, look upon parenthood as a
calling in the Church. Actually, it is so much more than that; but if we could
look at it that way for a moment, we could reach a better balance in the way we
schedule families."
Boyd K Packer / Parents In Zion / October 1998 General Conference
"There is great power
in a prayer that essentially says, "We are steward-parents over Thy
children, Father; please help us to raise them as Thou wouldst want them
raised.""
M. Russell Ballard /
Daughters of God / April 2008 General Conference
"If you are still in
the process of raising children, be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show
up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house,
the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled will disappear all too soon and that
you will—to your surprise—miss them profoundly."
President Monson /Finding Joy in the Journey / October 2008 General Conference
"There are no perfect
parents and no easy answers, but there are principles of truth that we can rely
on."
Larry R. Lawrence / Courageous Parenting / October 2010 General Conference
"Harmony, happiness,
peace, and love in the home can help give children the required inner strength
to cope with life’s challenges."
James E Faust / The Greatest Challenge in the World - Good Parenting / October 1990 General Conference
"One of the most
difficult parental challenges is to appropriately discipline children. Child
rearing is so individualistic. Every child is different and unique. What works
with one may not work with another. I do not know who is wise enough to say
what discipline is too harsh or what is too lenient except the parents of the
children themselves, who love them most. It is a matter of prayerful
discernment for the parents. Certainly the overarching and undergirding
principle is that the discipline of children must be motivated more by love
than by punishment."
James E Faust / The Greatest Challenge in the World - Good Parenting / October 1990 General Conference
"Mothers, we
acknowledge and esteem your faith in every footstep. Please know that it is
worth it then, now, and forever."
Jeffrey R Holland / Because She Is A Mother / May 1997 General Conference