Just a (long) thought...

I love being a mother and there's no way I would ever trade what I do, but sometimes that gets hard to remember when you have the pressures and temptations of the world pressing down on you. For instance, I'll sometimes think about how nice it would be to have a second income and feel like I'm contributing more to the financial security of our family or how it would be nice to get a pat on the back or a congratulations for each accomplishment at work. I am so grateful though that whenever those little thoughts come to mind, I'm always given such stronger thoughts and reminders of the importance of what I do. I know without a doubt that the greatest contribution I can give to my family (and the world for that matter) is to raise my children. Here are a few examples of those "strong reminders" that I've been blessed with. Today when I got home from church I put Rylee down for a nap and grabbed last month's Ensign to see if I'd missed anything good in it. I opened it up and, of course, the first article is the First Presidency Message. I had already read this amazing article from President Hinckley called "These, Our Little Ones" and absolutely loved it, but I felt compelled to read it again anyways. It's even better the 2nd time! It's made me tear up both times! If you haven't read it, do it! Here's a link. Basically though, it's about how important and influential our roles are as parents. These are a few of my favorite quotes from it: "It is so obvious that the great good and the terrible evil in the world today are the sweet and the bitter fruits of the rearing of yesterday’s children. As we train a new generation, so will the world be in a few years. If you are worried about the future, then look to the upbringing of your children." "E. T. Sullivan once wrote these interesting words: 'When God wants a great work done in the world or a great wrong righted, he goes about it in a very unusual way. He doesn’t stir up his earthquakes or send forth his thunderbolts. Instead, he has a helpless baby born, perhaps in a simple home and of some obscure mother. And then God puts the idea into the mother’s heart, and she puts it into the baby’s mind. And then God waits. The greatest forces in the world are not the earthquakes and the thunderbolts. The greatest forces in the world are babies.' And those babies, I should like to add, will become forces for good or ill, depending in large measure on how they are reared. The Lord, without equivocation, has declared, “I have commanded you to bring up your children in light and truth” (D&C 93:40). " "Do you want a spirit of love to grow in the world? Then begin within the walls of your own home. Behold your little ones, and see within them the wonders of God, from whose presence they have recently come." "How much more beautiful would be the world and the society in which we live if every father looked upon his children as the most precious of his assets, if he led them by the power of his example in kindness and love, and if in times of stress he blessed them by the authority of the holy priesthood; and if every mother regarded her children as the jewels of her life, as gifts from the God of heaven, who is their Eternal Father, and brought them up with true affection in the wisdom and admonition of the Lord." Another reminder for me was a couple of weeks ago Erin posted a blog about how much she loved this book called "I am a Mother" by Jane Clayson Johnson. Her explanation of the book was exactly the same as this e-mail that I had received from Amanda back in May. I love the e-mail so much that I still have it in my e-mail box so that I can read it whenever I feel like it. After Erin's post, I double checked and, yup, it's the same story (except I'm sure the e-mail is a shorter version of the book, so now I have to go buy the book). Anyway, here's Erin's explanation of the email and book "Jane Johnson is an LDS woman who had an amazing career in broadcasting. Former co-host of The Early Show on CBS and has also worked on The CBS Evening News, 48 Hours, World News Tonight with Peter Jennings and Good Morning America. She gave up her career to be a mother and writes about the empowerment we should feel not only as mothers, but as women." (Thanks Erin, you put it exactly how I would have except better, hope you don't mind!) :) Anyway, here are some of my favorite quotes from the e-mail: " 'In our society, we give motherhood plenty of lip service,' says Oprah Winfrey, another champion of motherhood. 'We pat moms on the head, bring them flowers on Mother's Day, and honor them before crowds. But at the end of the day, we don't extend them the same respect we would a professor, a dentist, an accountant, or a judge. I believe the choice to become a mother in the choice to become one of the greatest spiritual teachers there is. To create an environment that's stimulating and nurturing, to pass on a sense of responsibility to another human being, to raise a child who understands that he or she is create from good and is capable of anything—I know for sure that few callings are more honorable. To play down mothering as small is to crack the very foundation on which greatness stands. The world can only value mothering to the extent that women everywhere stand and declare that it must be so. In our hands we hold the power to transform the perception of motherhood….We should no longer allow a mother to be defined as 'just a mom.' It is on her back that great nations are built' " "The sanctity of motherhood can be hard to appreciate when you spend endless hours making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, singing along with Elmo, helping create elaborate science projects, or enforcing late-night curfews. Many in the world will shout that motherhood is full of small, mundane tasks. And certainly, if you look only on the surface, this is true. But underneath all of the secondary things mothers do—cook, clean, read, chauffeur, nurse, and so on—is a mother's real occupation and, I believe, the definition of true success. Webster defines occupation as "the principal business of one's life." The principal business of a mother's life is loving and nurturing her children; it is teaching them, by example how to pass on that love and thereby strengthening the world around them." Well anyway, sorry to get all serious on you guys, but I've been meaning to pay tribute to these two great articles and all those wonderful Mothers, Fathers, Grandmas, Grandpas, Uncles, Aunts and friends out there. Plus, it's Grateful Sunday! ;)