Being raised in a home where the traditions of marriage and preisthood were absent,
I have an added gratitude for my mother and her faith and prayers. Her faith is what made me a woman of God. I know that in most cases children from single parent homes do not graduate from college and do not get married in the temple and do not acheive masters degrees like my sister.
And how are we supposed to live a NORMAL family life when we have
never really seen it in action? How am I supposed to know my role as a child or as a wife or as a mother when I saw only glimpses of what it was supposed to be.
However because my mother
worked to the bone and cried to the Lord every day and night and showed us by example how to be faithful women we (my sister and I) can walk in a path we do not know because we have her faith ground into our bones and we know that the Lord will show the way.
She has had to work harder than any woman or man ever should. Her efforts made
us whole when we should have been broken, But because she worked so hard I am more so grateful for the role I get to establish in my home as a Mother and as a wife:D.
Our roles are made to make life joyful and burdens lighter. When we fulfill our roles Life is SO much easier for Everyone. as it says in
Ecclesiastics
9 ¶aTwo are better than one; because they have a good breward for their labour.
10For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.
Though I cant say I suffered for not having a father because my mother was Super woman She did mightily suffer. How beautiful I feel when Jake eases my burden for a little while and takes the kids to play or rubs my shoulders or when he brings me chocolate milk or is there to just talk to me after a long day. How wonderful is it to have
a team mate:D
I bask in the Joy that fills my heart when my kids get to call the love of my eternal life Daddy. It always stung a little..... just a little when my friends would call out Daddy! No more though:D
I am so happy.
unbelieveably happy for one dear friend in particular Analee Christiensen:D I was with her one day when she got exasperated with her father because he was being just a tinny bit over protective:D At first I was thinking doesnt she know how AMAZING it is that she has this man trying to be there for her?
Doesnt she know?
I would give anything to have a father who really
truly loved me like that.
...and then I stepped back... I just smiled inside knowing that one day Bella would have that same tone of voice and that same attitude with her father:D
Analee
had that gift of Knowing Knowing Knowing that Daddy LOVED her no matter how hard she tried to make him see how grown she was:D
Daddy is a sacred roll in the home.
Sacred and
wonderful and beautiful.
How cool would it have been to have a father provide for our little family? How wonderful is it that you fathers here in this room get the opportunity to do so?
Oh How her burden would have been
lifted had a father stepped up to the plate and taken over his role as guardian, provider and protector.
Do you Fathers know how sacred your calling is? How your love and support anchors your family to Heaven with the preisthood? If you havent thought about it before think about it now and make a decision to be a little bit better a
little bit kinder and a little bit more grateful for what you have.
If you look at your Sons and want them to be respectable loving men You need to be a loving respectable man. If you see your daughters and want them to marry men who will honor their priesthood and Reverence womanhood then you need to be Honoring and reverencing so that they can see it and feel it and know How it is supposed to feel to be loved and cherished and in turn refuse to accept anything less.
Like I said I never suffered for not having a father
my mother made sure of it.
We had priesthood blessings from home teachers and daddy
daughter dates with the bishop and all kinds of experiences that gave us access to the power of God. In some ways I have faith to move mountains because I saw my mother do it and I KNOW its possible to make it through ANYTHING
as long as I put my trust where it belongs. I will be Forever Grateful for the love my Mother poured into us:D
Her hope and faith that one day I would have a better life made me all the more determined to make that happen too.
Ill admit that being a mother and wife was the farthest thing from my mind growing up. I was a tomb boy and I was determined to remain a tree climbing bike riding skateboard riding athlete:D
Being a mother has been something I have slowly grown into.
It has changed me in ways I never imagined possible. things are still
taking time to fill in. I think after 8 years I am catching up and realizing a few things I didnt know before...Like I said I never saw what a stay at home mom did day in and day out.
Ill never forget the moment at EFY when I realized I had NO IDEA how to be a wife and mother!!! I was FREAKED out!! cuz my Missionary was coming home in a few months and I didnt know how I would handle the role of wife...much less mother.
That day It was my job to teach about the roles of Wife and mother... I didnt think I had anything to offer these girls... I realized that day with the help
of those young girls and the other counselors there that I could make my home however I wanted it to be. I had seen different ways of managing a home here and there and I could take those examples and apply them to my home. When my mom did get to have some vacation time it was lovely to have her be home just for us:D and I wanted that for my kids:D
In that room with those girls I realized that I could do it:D
I knew Heavenly Father would Never leave me alone. He would lend me his strength and his wisdom where I had none. He has even softened my heart and made Motherhood my lifelong career choice.
Who would have thought:D
Motherhood is so revered in our Church and by our Heavenly Father. He will ALWAYS be beside us answering our prayers and lending us his arm. He also has our backs in our marriages as wives.
We as wives have a sacred responsibility to our husbands to be supportive and loving. We should show our love and gratitude for their efforts and celebrate their successes. and vice versa:D
Who should we emulate when we are thinking of our
roles as wives? Maybe Emma Smith. as
Susan Easton Black says:
Throughout her life as a wife, Emma experienced hardship, sorrow, persecution, and severe tests. Despite this,
she was faithful to the Lord’s invitation: “Let thy soul delight in thy husband, and the glory which shall come upon him” (D&C 25:14).
Emma’s responsibilities were many, and by comparison her weaknesses were few.
The lessons from the Lord’s revelations to Emma are clear: a wife is to cleave to her husband and comfort him,
serve in the Lord’s kingdom, and endure faithfully to the end.
Just prior to his death, the Prophet Joseph Smith invited Emma to write out a blessing that she would want from him.
She wrote in part, “I desire with all my heart to honor and respect my husband as my head,
ever to live in his confidence and by acting in unison with him, retain the place which God has given me by his side.” 7
Why did I marry Jake?
Because I LOVE him and I want him to be HAPPY:D I knew he would be
a wonderful Father and he was already a son that any mother would be proud of. I didnt marry him so that he could serve me though he does day in and day out:D
Sometimes it is tempting to get our weapons of war out and let them fall on our husbands because for some reason or other His shortcomings are obvious at the moment...but maybe we could be like the
Anti Lehi Nephites and chose to burry our weapons of war:D guilt trips, the cold shoulder, being easily offended. What ever your weapon of choice
having it burried in the the ground would not only help Him to prosper it will help us glimpse the men that God sees in them.
When we overlook imperfections and focus on the positive and magnify our callings as nurturers its amazing the difference it makes in the whole spirit of our homes and our Husbands. If I believe he is a great man how much easier is it for him to be a great man!! I need to lift him up and help him soar and my weapons only bring him heart ache and pain.
As mothers and Fathers together we are to rear our children so that they Know the Lord just as my Mother did
As Wives and Husbands it is imperative that we Love each other and work together to make home Heaven. So when we get to Heaven we wont have a hard time adjusting.
As children we must Honor and love our Parents all the days of our lives.
