In the Mom-hood

I hope all you ladies out there--all the moms, grandmoms, aunts, sisters, cousins, and friends who have touched the lives of the young people in your world--had a great Mother's Day!

8 May 2011: Ready to open my gift!

My day was wonderful, not because of the attention I received but because I am so privileged to have the sweet title of "Mom."  There is no other calling in this world that can bring greater joy, and I am so humbled and grateful for the gifts of motherhood.

When I was a typically difficult teenager, I remember numerous occasions when my own mother reminded me that I "owed" her better behavior because she brought me into this world.  Not that she was wrong (and my mom loved being a mother), but I feel very differently. 

Quite the contrary.  I am thankful that three of Heavenly Father's precious children chose me to be the one to guide them through their youthful years and love them throughout their lives and into the eternities.  If anything, I feel that I owe them for the sacred blessing of being their mother.  I owe them the best mothering I can manage to provide through the best of times and the worst of times.  I owe them for all the incredible lessons I've learned through this partnership with God that we call Motherhood.

Perhaps our views differed because my mother had her first baby (me) when she was 16, while I had to wait until I was 35 to hold my first child in my arms.  She didn't spend years wondering if Heavenly Father would ever entrust her with the care and keeping of some of His little children.  Those years of longing had a lasting impact on my perspective toward motherhood. 

Despite the difficulties and challenges that accompany the blessings of raising children, I will never see motherhood as less than the greatest privilege of my lifetime.

Of course, it doesn't hurt that I have exceptionally great children!  And I'm not biased at all!

A new figurine for my collection, courtesy of Sarah!

After being spoiled with chocolates and cupcakes at church, I came home to find a gift and a card from my firstborn, Sarah, arranged picturesquely on my bed.  What she wrote inside the card was so sweet that tears rolled down my face.  She added to my Willow Tree collection with a little figurine called "Wisdom."

My amazing husband made me a special dinner of chicken parmesan, while my youngest, Dylan, dimmed the kitchen lights and set the table especially for Mother's Day with glowing candles.  Later I decided to pamper myself with strawberry shortcake made from scratch, which we all enjoyed at bedtime.

3 May 2011- Elder Carter (far right) won a pie for having the cleanest car in their zone!

Our whole family would agree, the highlight of the day was a highly anticipated phone call from our missionary in northern California, my middle child Jacob.  Missionaries are only allowed to call home on Christmas Day and Mother's Day, so it was quite a special occasion.

Dylan invited me to watch a movie with him while we waited for Jacob's call, which was supposed to be around 4:00.  Dylan was so excited to talk to his big brother that he sat with the phone in his hand until the call actually came in, almost an hour late!  We enjoyed a 45-minute phone call, with the portable phone passing from person to person around the room.  I myself "hogged" the phone for 25 of those minutes.  Hey, it was Mother's Day, after all!

3 May 2011: At their zone conference, missionaries whose birthdays will come up

in the next 2 months were honored.  Jacob, whose birthday is on June 26th,

is the second Elder from the right in the lineup.



Mother's Day is a pleasant way to remember the women who most influence our lives, but for me the blessings of motherhood lie in the little day-to-day moments when we see our children becoming the good people God intends them to be.  I felt that joy in talking to my missionary son and hearing the happiness in his voice as he spoke of serving the Lord.  I experienced it during church when I looked over and saw my 21-year-old daughter holding hands with her little brother.  I knew it yesterday when my 13-year-old son helped his step-dad move several rock piles out of the garden plot without being asked.  I soaked it in at Sarah's concert on Saturday night when my baby draped his arm around my neck and rested his head on my shoulder while enjoying Mozart, even though that's considered way uncool to most 13-year-olds.

Ladies, I wish you many, many such moments on Mother's Day and throughout the year!