Prelude to Mother's Day - Part 2 - "Mothers Who Know"

For today's post, I invited my sisters to read another beautiful talk on mothers by Sister Julie B. Beck and share their thoughts. This time, it's "Mothers Who Know".


My oldest sister is the mother of four children - ages twelve, ten, seven, and five {almost}.

Her favorite part:

"Mothers who know do less . . . they allow less media in their homes, less distraction, less activity that draws their children away from their home. Mothers who know are willing to live on less and consume less of the world’s goods in order to spend more time with their children . . . these mothers choose carefully and do not try to choose it all." 

Her thoughts:


Sister Beck’s straightforwardness is encouraging to me.  She is all about simplifying and getting back to the basics. I think too many of us try to choose it all and do it all. It can become very overwhelming and unfulfilling. 


I love being a homemaker and being home with my children trying to be the CEO of my “organization”. I know that it is the single most important thing I will ever do and the older my children get the more I realize that sacred responsibility that rests upon me. I see the wickedness in the world and I have to explain things to my kids that are harsh realities. I want them to have what I have. I want them to be happy, and realize who they are and that their lives have purpose and meaning and that ultimately others matter most. 


There was a time, as a young mother, that I thought of myself and my own needs instead of the divine destiny of my children. I found housework mundane and routine. I was put out by fussy babies and the frustrations that lack of sleep and messy homes can bring. It wasn’t until I prayed for a change of heart and looked to the example of my own mother that I was able to have a spiritual change that has allowed me to view this time on earth as a truly blessed and beautiful reality. 


I know there is eternal influence and power in motherhood and I know that I am extremely lucky and blessed to have had the experience of conceiving, bearing, and raising children. For that I am grateful. So grateful.

*****

My other sister is the mother of three children - ages six, four and one month.


{Due to the arrival of this adorable one-month-old, they do not currently have an updated family picture.}


Her favorite part:

"Mothers who know are nurturers. This is their special assignment and role under the plan of happiness. To nurture means to cultivate, care for, and make grow. Therefore, mothers who know create a climate for spiritual and temporal growth in their homes . . . [Nurturing] includes cooking, washing clothes and dishes, and keeping an orderly home . . . Working beside children in homemaking tasks creates opportunities to teach and model qualities children should emulate . . . Nurturing requires organization, patience, love, and work . . ."

Her thoughts:


In a world that frowns upon having children, I embrace the opportunity to bear children. No other experience can compare to birthing and having your child. What a blessing it has been to have a body that is able to conceive and bear children! I am so unbelievably grateful for that!


I am also grateful that I am able to nuture and take care of the spiritual and physical needs of my children. In the words of one of my friends, "When I dress my children, I am clothing the naked.  When I feed my children, I am feeding the hungry. When I take care of my children, I am doing what the Savior asks me to do." I love to be able to do the dishes, laundry and all of the other menial tasks that make a home. I LOVE to do these things for my family.  I may complain . . . but I am sad when I am not able to serve them in that way.


I always think of myself as my children's first, and most important, teacher. In my house, we sing the words to a primary song a little differently than most people. If you heard my children sing it, you would hear, "Book of Mormon stories that my mommy tells to me." I purposely taught my children those words because I am the one that needs to teach them!


And at the end of the day when my children are asleep and I am thinking about what I need to do better and how I really feel about them, this is what I think:

"You are the trip I did not take
You are the pearls I cannot buy
You are my blue Italian Lake
You are my piece of foreign sky"

-Anne Campbell

A huge thanks to my sisters for doing this! I think now we can all understand a little better how to be a 'mother who knows'.