Mothering

My feelings on this have become increasingly deeper these past few months as I have felt I was being asked to do a lot of this on my own.  I know now that I was wrong on the "alone" part, but that my gratitude for this very humbling and sacred life of a mother is deeper and more real than it has ever been.   During this challenging time I have been reading a book, "Expecting Adam" by Martha Beck.  In the beginning stages of her very challenging and life-altering pregnancy she says,

“The word mother is more powerful when it is used as a verb than as a noun.  Mothering has little to do with biological reproduction – as another friend once told me, there are women who bear and raise children without ever mothering them, and there are people (both male and female) who mother all their lives without ever giving birth.  The bad news is that not all of us have the good fortune to be born to our real mothers, or to stay with them as long as we need them.  The good news is that, while mothers are often in short supply, mothering is not.  Against all odds, despite every thing that works against it on this unpleasant, uncomfortable planet, mothering is here in abundance.  You can always find it, if you’re smart and know where to look. … You have to let down your defenses in order to be mothered.” – Expecting Adam, Martha Beck 

I loved her thoughts as she was unexpectedly "mothered" by two amazing women in this terribly difficult and painful time in her life.  Her words are beautiful and very real.  And then just before Mothers Day a wonderful woman and friend in our church sent me this.   I wanted to share it with all of you for it buoyed my up and helped me realize how much Heavenly Father has carried me through these past months when I have done much of what Jeffery Holland describes.  I love the realization that I have finally come to know this week, that "one cannot see mother and not see God," that more so than any other time in my life I have the opportunity, responsibility, and blessing of joining in His work than ever before.  I hope to humbly, reverently, and with all my love, help my children to know their Father in Heaven and of his divine plan and love for them.

From http://lds.org/ensign/1997/05/because-she-is-a-mother?lang=eng

My gratitude to my own mother is trully indescribable. The way she has literally shaped my life knows no bounds. I love her. And I am so grateful to the many many others, mother-in-law, sisters, sisters-in-laws, and friends who have "mothered" me with so much love. Thank you.