Thoughts on Motherhood

Yesterday, Emmalee taught me something. While in nursery (I've been taking her to get her acclimated before she goes in next month) a little girl came in with her mother. The family is new in the ward and the girl won't stay by herself yet. So, when her mother left, the girl kinda lost it...screaming, snotty, nobody could touch her kinda thing. Emmalee looked at this girl, and without prompting, walked over to her and gave her a hug. We call it "giving loves" at home. I looked up and saw this and my heart overflowed with love for my daughter. And then came the confirmation that I NEEDED...that in some small way I was succeeding as a mother.

And then this morning I read a quote. A mother wrote in a letter to Elder Holland, "Through the thick and thin of this (motherhood), and through the occassional tears of it all, I know deep down inside I am doing God's work. I know that in my motherhood I am in an eternal partnership with Him. I am deeply moved that God finds His ultimate purpose and meaning in being a parent, even if some of His children make Him weep. It is this realization that I try to recall on those inevitably difficult days when all of this can be a bit overwhelming. Maybe it is precisely our inability and anxiousness that urge us to reach out to Him and enhance His ability to reach back to us. Maybe He secretly hopes we will be anxious and will plead for His help. Then, I believe, He can teach these children directly, through us, but with no resistance offered. I like that idea. It gives me hope. If I can be right before my Father in Heaven, perhaps His guidance to our children can be unimpeded. Maybe then it can be HIS work and HIS glory in a very literal sense."

What an ncredibly humbling thought. What an inspiring experience. Thank you, Emmalee, for teaching your mother that she needs to be more like the Savior. No wonder we are commanded to be as little children.