Our Divine Role

I haven't had the chance to post anything for a while, due to the minor financial crisis we were going through with fraudulent activity on our bank account. Overall, the little things we had to do to get everything straightened out and protected again kind of took over everything else in my life for the last couple of weeks. Basically speaking, it was just hard to find any time to read, blog, etc. But life goes on!....

President Gordon B. Hinckley has said, "God planted within women something divine" (Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley, 387).

Jane Clayson Johnson follows this up with: "It is that divinity that makes women nurturers, that encourages a woman to pursue motherhood--even when that means sacrificing her own comforts for those of her children...and loving those children with a fierceness and loyalty that is incomparable." (I Am a Mother, 6)

Lastly, this inspirational piece comes from Oprah Winfrey:

"I believe the choice to become a mother is 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 created from good and is 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 the great nations are built" ("What I Know for Sure," O, The Oprah Magazine, 66; emphasis added).

To me this responsibility of being a mom is almost too overwhelming if I think about it for too long. To think that everything I do and say will somehow be reflected in my children is a little scary, since I feel like I'm still trying to figure things out myself. But I think that's the way God wants us to learn. In the end, whether we're a parent or child, we're all children of God working together, teaching one another, and learning from each other. The role of a mother, in itself, is something that creates so many learning experiences and gives us opportunity to grow. Isn't that just it? We need challenges to give us experience. That experience then leads to knowledge. Knowledge leads to understanding. Understanding leads us to be one with God!

So, though "mother" seems a huge title to take upon ourselves because of the immense responsibility, it is also what gives us power. We are blessed with a role that if filled in the right way, can create countless purposes of good for centuries to come.