Mothering has been the most soul-stretching adventure of my life. While young and in college, I was worried that I would not be able to bear children in this life (because of some health concerns). I remember vividly the covenant I made with the Lord that I would devote every effort to raising a righteous family. I would study it in school, I would welcome children and love them, and I would teach them at my knee. I felt His confirmation that He would honor my righteous desires. One of the sweetest moments of my life has been kneeling with my husband in prayer, with much anticipation, asking the Lord to please send us a child. We promised to raise this child to Him, to teach her the gospel and a love of God. As we ask in faith for the Lord to send us children we can gratefully exclaim as did Hannah: "For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him: therefore also I have lent him to the Lord: as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord" (1 Samuel 1:27-28).
My mother knelt each morning in prayer and asked that the Lord would help her be calm no matter what storms came that day. As a mother, you can see your heart being changed to be more like His. Each day you are refined as you embark in His work “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39). “How silently, how silently the wondrous Gift is giv’n/ So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His Heav’n” (O Little Town of Bethlehem). Over time, I have felt my heart being changed to love His Heav’n – peace and happiness in parenting.
THE DIVINE WORK OF MOTHERING
As I progress, selfish desires melt away; time to love and listen to my children becomes a priority, and I take immense joy in their progression. I believe motherhood is the best way for Heavenly Father to accelerate our learning and to help us see others and ourselves as He does.
On this journey we are sent children to teach and to refine us but in our busyness we often fail to open our eyes to the wisdom of their innocence. Where we have forgotten our heavenly home, they are “fresh from forever.” "Who are these children coming down, coming down like gentle rain through darkened skies with glory trailing from their feet as the go and endless promise in their eyes" (Saturday's Warrior). These are the children we are privileged to raise who have "endless promise" and look to us for guidance. “He knows that your giving birth to a child does not immediately propel you into the circle of the omniscient” (Jeffrey R. Holland, Because She is a Mother). Being a mother is a daunting task, but we do not have to do it alone. Heaven will assist us in our great work of mothering; we have the promise that “He has given His angels charge concerning us and they watch over us and have us in their keeping” (George Q. Cannon, To My Grandchildren). So “cherish the role that is so uniquely yours and for which heaven itself sends angels to watch over you and your little ones” (Jeffrey R. Holland, Because she is a Mother).
TO MY EVERYDAY MOTHER
A mother's influence is her love
MOTHERHOOD
An Eternal Partnership with God