As I considered Mothers on this day to celebrate them, I
thought of all the Mother’s in my life…
- My
Mom- raised us humbly. A clean hand and pure heart.
- My
sisters- Liz and Alli making us mac n cheese and Alli getting burned. They sacrificed some of their
childhood for me.
- My
Grandma Parkin- Olivia caught swearing on the playground and me
tattletaling. Grandma pulling her aside and asking Olivia if she wanted to
end up like her? If not, she
needed to stop with the bad language.
- Elaine
Engstrum- taught me the missionary lessons as an eight year old and became
one of my best friends. Wrote
me my whole mission, sent me referrals of people who lived in California. She
loved life, every moment of it. Up until the day she passed away, she
welcomed me into her heart fully.
What I came to realize this morning is that mother is synonymous with
woman. In Moses 4:26 it describes
Eve’s name as the, “mother of all living.” She was the first woman and the first mother. Each of the women mentioned above have,
in their own way, been a mother to me.
I hope to one day be like them.
In the book, “Daughters in My Kingdom,” there is a quote I
came across that I feel like describes mothers,
A Place of Refuge pg. 86
" Since the early days of Relief Society, sisters have
provided a place of refuge-a place of healing, love, kindness, care, and
belonging. In Nauvoo, sisters found refuge in Relief Society as they relied on
each others’ faith and skills and as they shared food and clothing. This continued as they crossed the
plains and as they established themselves in the Utah Territory. Now, as they
Church grows throughout the world, sisters continue to find refuge in Relief
Society."
Mother’s and women provide a place of refuge. A place of
healing, love, kindness, care, and belonging.
I recently worked at a girl’s group home in provo. One of my favorite girls was a Native
American girl who came from a family of ten children, her mother was 32
years old. Her mother was in
trouble with the law, which left her ten children spread out across Utah in various detention centers and foster care.
This little girl had broken down one day and cried about the reality of
not having a mother who wanted the best for her. I realized then, how ungrateful
I had been about my loving and encouraging mother, who had always accepted me
for who I was but inspired me to be better then I thought I could be. I tried to be, in some small way, a
mother to this little girl. Help her see that I believed in a bigger and better
future for her.
With this same Native, and a few others who lived at the
group home, I was able to go to a Cultural event at UVSC for Native American
students. At this event, the speaker
talked on the importance of family and of education. I loved what he was saying and was scrambling to write
some of his words down on any scrap of paper I could find in my purse. The girls who had gone with me had been
given a big folder full of information and suddenly this girl hands me a paper
from her folder. She had seen me
struggling and had filled my need. She was a mother to me in that moment.
The speaker had said, “I heard someone say that their mom
was their hero. I thought it cliché.
But not anymore. The parents should be their children’s heroes. That shoe should fit. What a beautiful thing to be so connected
to a person and to still look up to them as you see every moment of their life,
how they live each moment of their day.”
I loved that and it is exactly how I feel about my mom.
So…What now? What does this have to do with enduring to the
end? Motherhood is interwoven with faith, repentance and receiving the Gift of
the Holy Ghost. My older sister had her first baby and suffered from postpartum
depression. I think part of it had
to do with feelings of inadequacy as she held this baby and realized what
motherhood meant for her. She exercised
great faith, repented and received the Holy Ghost to be healed and whole.
Mothers must trust that God has called each of us as women and He will, and has, qualified us for the work.
