Mother's Day is My Day, thank you.

I almost let the day slip away. In twenty minutes, Mother's Day 2009 will be gone... and I almost didn't take the opportunity to reflect on this moment in time. I am sad I didn't get a picture this year. So, I'm posting the picture from Mother's Day 2008... Oh, well.

I was reading a pamphlet I received in 1987, not long after I joined the LDS Church. Entitled "To the Mothers in Zion" it contains the words of President Ezra Taft Benson, now deceased, but who was the Prophet at that time. The words of President Benson, in a very large way, molded my life. Looking back at the stage of my life at that time, knowing how the talk affected my heart, and seeing how my life has unfolded now 22 years later... it has been a good experience for me to have re-read the pamphlet. I wonder how many other women I know have read it. I wonder if it spoke to them the same way?

Last year, our Bishopric gave all the mothers a booklet entitled "Blessings upon the Hands of Women" by Boyd K. Packard. I've asked a few of my friends, and no one seems to have read it, besides me, of course. I don't get it, honestly. There's so much pressure from the world on women to be what society says we should be. There is so little honor in motherhood anymore, in the distorted view of the world. I wonder if I am the only one I know who needs to be reassured I'm OK. It's OK with the Lord if I don't work for money. It's OK if I have nine children and cook dinner for my husband and family every (Oh, OK, MOST) night(s). It's OK if I am able to run the gym shorts to the school in the middle of the day. It's OK to be available in the middle of the day to do those things for my kids when they call me.

The Lord doesn't look down on me because I have chosen to be a mother. Not just someone who gave birth and then hired someone to change the diapers, read the books, teach the alphabet. Not just someone who had a child because she wanted one and it was the right time in life. I chose to make motherhood my career, and my Heavenly Father supports me in that choice.

I see it every day. I see the hand of the Lord in my life, sustaining me and buoying me up, even when the tempest blows and the billows mount. How else could it be that we survive? How could it be that one man, my husband Daniel, a good and loving man, but still only one man; how could it be that he could support this enormous family alone? Don't misunderstand, I do my share for Windham Plumbing. Invoicing, contracting, payables/receivables, insurance issues, etc... and it saves quite a bit of money because we don't have to hire an office manager and bookkeeper. But, I don't bring money IN. Daniel does that. And it is amazing how well we have survived over the years. It reminds me of the Lord feeding the multitude with five loaves of bread and some fishes. The basket just never emptied. And so it seems to be with us. Even when things seem dim, the light never goes out.

I don't have words of gratitude sufficient to express the full measure of my heart. No greater joy have I ever known than that experienced during moments such as those similar to the picture I have posted with this entry. President David O. McKay has said: "Motherhood is the greatest potential influence either for good or ill in human life. The mother's image is the first that stamps itself on the unwritten page of the young child's mind. It is her caress that first awakens a sense of security; her kiss, the first realization of affection; her sympathy and tenderness, the first assurance that there is love in the world."

I have felt the joy in stamping that first impression upon the mind of an infant child fresh from the bosom of the Father. I have felt the warm reciprocity of security in a small sleeping body snuggled warmly in my arms. I have felt the joy of motherhood and no joy in this life is sweeter. No money nor promise of position or power could persuade me to seek greater fulfillment outside the walls of this home in which I have borne and am rearing my children. I thank my God for the blessings of Motherhood. I thank Him for the swelling in my bosom even now, as I contemplate my station in this life.

No foreign government will ever know my name. No posters will display the silhouette of my face. No popular songs will laud me, yet, my children will hold the memory of my love and service in their hearts forever and my grandchildren will be blessed because of my influence in the lives of the children I have been blessed to rear in my home. The songs I have sung will ring in the memory of my children all the days of their lives. The stories I have told will remain somewhere in the recesses of adult minds. The influence of my kindness will affect generations to come.

What more honor could one ask? It has been a happy day for me today. I am grateful to be a mother in Zion.