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May. 8th, 2010 10:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lizzybennetFor those who are interested, here's my Mother's Day talk for tomorrow at church. I "borrowed" quite heavily from a talk by Sherri Dew, even so much as to quote her word for word for a significant portion. Her thoughts echoed my own so perfectly, I didn't see much need to try and reword it. Don't worry, I will reveal my sources :)
For those of you who may disagree with the opinions I've expressed here, I hope you will be respectful of my beliefs.
Two words that not only summarize our job as mothers, but also the work of our Heavenly Father are Loving and Leading. How best can we, as women, help the Lord in this mission of loving and leading?
Prophets have called motherhood “the highest, holiest service … assumed by mankind.”
Joseph F Smith said: Motherhood lies at the foundation of happiness in the home, and of prosperity in the nation.
Have you ever wondered why prophets and church leaders have spoken about the doctrine of motherhood over and over again? It is because they know that Satan is waging a war against the noble office of mother. He knows that without righteous mother’s leading the next generation, the kingdom of God will fail.
When we understand the magnitude of motherhood, it becomes clear why prophets have been so protective of woman’s most sacred role. While we tend to equate motherhood solely with having children, in the Lord’s language, the word mother has layers of meaning. Of all the words they could have chosen to define her role and her essence, both God the Father and Adam called Eve “the mother of all living”—and they did so before she ever bore a child. Like Eve, our motherhood began before we were born. Just as worthy men were foreordained to hold the priesthood in mortality, righteous women were endowed premortally with the privilege of motherhood. Motherhood is more than bearing children, though it is certainly that. It is the essence of who we are as women. It defines our very identity, our divine stature and nature, and the unique traits our Father gave us.
President Gordon B. Hinckley stated that “God planted within women something divine.” That something is the gift and the gifts of motherhood. Elder Matthew Cowley taught that “men have to have something given to them [in mortality] to make them saviors of men, but not mothers, not women. [They] are born with an inherent right, an inherent authority, to be the saviors of human souls … and the regenerating force in the lives of God’s children.”
Motherhood is not what was left over after our Father blessed His sons with priesthood ordination. It was the most ennobling endowment He could give His daughters, a sacred trust that gave women an unparalleled role in helping His children keep their second estate.
As President J. Reuben Clark Jr. declared, motherhood is “as divinely called, as eternally important in its place as the Priesthood itself.”
Despite all this, the subject of motherhood is a delicate one. Some women are blessed with marriage and children early in life. They have no difficulty bearing children. However this is not true of all women. For reasons known only to the Lord, some women are required to wait to have children. This delay is not easy for any righteous woman. But the Lord’s timetable for each of us does not change our nature. Some of us, then, must simply find other ways to mother. And all around us are those who need to be loved and led.
One of my dear friends has not been able to have biological children. She has turned this trial into a blessing; not only to herself, but to the four daughters that she has adopted through the foster care system. All of us have sisters, aunts, or friends who bless our lives and the lives of the children around them with their righteous example and loving nature. These women are truly mothers in Zion.
Eve set the pattern. In addition to bearing children, she mothered all of mankind when she made the most courageous decision any woman has ever made and with Adam opened the way for us to progress. She set an example of womanhood for men to respect and women to follow, modeling the characteristics with which we as women have been endowed: heroic faith, a keen sensitivity to the Spirit, an abhorrence of evil, and complete selflessness. Like the Savior, “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,” Eve, for the joy of helping initiate the human family, endured the Fall. She loved us enough to help lead us.
As daughters of our Heavenly Father, and as daughters of Eve, we are all mothers and we have always been mothers. And we each have the responsibility to love and help lead the rising generation. How will our young women learn to live as women of God unless they see what women of God look like, meaning what we wear, watch, and read; how we fill our time and our minds; how we face temptation and uncertainty; where we find true joy; and why modesty and femininity are hallmarks of righteous women? How will our young men learn to value women of God if we don’t show them the virtue of our virtues?
I have been blessed throughout my life by the actions of many righteous women. My great-grandmother, living on a farm in rural Mississippi, taught me to love and appreciate nature. My dad’s mom is just under 5 ft tall and the best pie maker I’ve ever met. When I spend time with her, I am reminded that my height—or lack thereof!-- is a proud aspect of my family history. My mom’s mom taught me to knit. She also took me to New York City as a gift when I graduated high school. That was such an adventure and one that I will never forget. None of these women are LDS, yet they have all blessed my life with their love and concern for my well-being.
My parents are converts to the church. For my mom, this meant making many significant changes in her life. She once told me that she had never planned on having any children, yet now she is the mother of six and the grandmother of twelve. When I left home and began my own household, I thought it would be easy-peasy because my mom made it appear to be so. She is so organized! We never ran out of anything-not toothpaste, toilet paper, not bread or milk. She cooked dinner virtually every night because she had the whole month planned out with the menu conveniently posted on the fridge for all to see. She drove me a half hour each way to early morning seminary and she has served diligently in many callings over the years, from Primary president to Relief Society pianist. Nowadays, when I call her up with concerns for my own children, when I’m feeling that heartache that only a mother can understand, she reminds me of the importance of praying for guidance in my children’s lives. She never fails to tell me how proud she is of me, and tell me that I set a good example for her. She still continues to strengthen me and help me do those things necessary to return to our Father in Heaven.
When I married Chris, I was blessed to gain another amazing mom in my life. Margaret has shown me time and time again what quiet, unassuming service looks like. Her service to her husband and her children is unfailing. She has the most unconditional love of anyone I have ever met. She has taught me not to sweat the small stuff. When she was diagnosed with cancer, she sent out letters and calls of comfort to her family. She was comforting us in our distress over the news of her condition! She has indeed been a blessing in my life. More than once I’ve been told by my friends and family (my own mom!) how lucky I am to have a mother-in-law like Margaret.
Almost twelve years ago, I gave birth to my first child. I had a very difficult delivery. Our bishop at that time, Brother Gary Reynolds, came to the hospital in the early hours of the morning to assist in giving me a blessing. Seeing the bishop, my dad and my husband all gathered around, I knew that Zack and I would be fine and we were. Despite his rocky beginning, both Zack and I came through happy and healthy. Later that month, I stood at this very pulpit to express the great love I felt for Zack. I had no idea that the love I would feel as a mother would be so intense, so overwhelming and strong. Once I experienced that great love, I felt that I had a small glimpse into the love that our Father in Heaven feels for each of us.
I’d like to close with the following quote from
Marjorie Pay Hinckley:
"I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails.
I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp.
I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor’s children.
I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden.
I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder.
I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived."
For those of you who may disagree with the opinions I've expressed here, I hope you will be respectful of my beliefs.
Two words that not only summarize our job as mothers, but also the work of our Heavenly Father are Loving and Leading. How best can we, as women, help the Lord in this mission of loving and leading?
Prophets have called motherhood “the highest, holiest service … assumed by mankind.”
Joseph F Smith said: Motherhood lies at the foundation of happiness in the home, and of prosperity in the nation.
Have you ever wondered why prophets and church leaders have spoken about the doctrine of motherhood over and over again? It is because they know that Satan is waging a war against the noble office of mother. He knows that without righteous mother’s leading the next generation, the kingdom of God will fail.
When we understand the magnitude of motherhood, it becomes clear why prophets have been so protective of woman’s most sacred role. While we tend to equate motherhood solely with having children, in the Lord’s language, the word mother has layers of meaning. Of all the words they could have chosen to define her role and her essence, both God the Father and Adam called Eve “the mother of all living”—and they did so before she ever bore a child. Like Eve, our motherhood began before we were born. Just as worthy men were foreordained to hold the priesthood in mortality, righteous women were endowed premortally with the privilege of motherhood. Motherhood is more than bearing children, though it is certainly that. It is the essence of who we are as women. It defines our very identity, our divine stature and nature, and the unique traits our Father gave us.
President Gordon B. Hinckley stated that “God planted within women something divine.” That something is the gift and the gifts of motherhood. Elder Matthew Cowley taught that “men have to have something given to them [in mortality] to make them saviors of men, but not mothers, not women. [They] are born with an inherent right, an inherent authority, to be the saviors of human souls … and the regenerating force in the lives of God’s children.”
Motherhood is not what was left over after our Father blessed His sons with priesthood ordination. It was the most ennobling endowment He could give His daughters, a sacred trust that gave women an unparalleled role in helping His children keep their second estate.
As President J. Reuben Clark Jr. declared, motherhood is “as divinely called, as eternally important in its place as the Priesthood itself.”
Despite all this, the subject of motherhood is a delicate one. Some women are blessed with marriage and children early in life. They have no difficulty bearing children. However this is not true of all women. For reasons known only to the Lord, some women are required to wait to have children. This delay is not easy for any righteous woman. But the Lord’s timetable for each of us does not change our nature. Some of us, then, must simply find other ways to mother. And all around us are those who need to be loved and led.
One of my dear friends has not been able to have biological children. She has turned this trial into a blessing; not only to herself, but to the four daughters that she has adopted through the foster care system. All of us have sisters, aunts, or friends who bless our lives and the lives of the children around them with their righteous example and loving nature. These women are truly mothers in Zion.
Eve set the pattern. In addition to bearing children, she mothered all of mankind when she made the most courageous decision any woman has ever made and with Adam opened the way for us to progress. She set an example of womanhood for men to respect and women to follow, modeling the characteristics with which we as women have been endowed: heroic faith, a keen sensitivity to the Spirit, an abhorrence of evil, and complete selflessness. Like the Savior, “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,” Eve, for the joy of helping initiate the human family, endured the Fall. She loved us enough to help lead us.
As daughters of our Heavenly Father, and as daughters of Eve, we are all mothers and we have always been mothers. And we each have the responsibility to love and help lead the rising generation. How will our young women learn to live as women of God unless they see what women of God look like, meaning what we wear, watch, and read; how we fill our time and our minds; how we face temptation and uncertainty; where we find true joy; and why modesty and femininity are hallmarks of righteous women? How will our young men learn to value women of God if we don’t show them the virtue of our virtues?
I have been blessed throughout my life by the actions of many righteous women. My great-grandmother, living on a farm in rural Mississippi, taught me to love and appreciate nature. My dad’s mom is just under 5 ft tall and the best pie maker I’ve ever met. When I spend time with her, I am reminded that my height—or lack thereof!-- is a proud aspect of my family history. My mom’s mom taught me to knit. She also took me to New York City as a gift when I graduated high school. That was such an adventure and one that I will never forget. None of these women are LDS, yet they have all blessed my life with their love and concern for my well-being.
My parents are converts to the church. For my mom, this meant making many significant changes in her life. She once told me that she had never planned on having any children, yet now she is the mother of six and the grandmother of twelve. When I left home and began my own household, I thought it would be easy-peasy because my mom made it appear to be so. She is so organized! We never ran out of anything-not toothpaste, toilet paper, not bread or milk. She cooked dinner virtually every night because she had the whole month planned out with the menu conveniently posted on the fridge for all to see. She drove me a half hour each way to early morning seminary and she has served diligently in many callings over the years, from Primary president to Relief Society pianist. Nowadays, when I call her up with concerns for my own children, when I’m feeling that heartache that only a mother can understand, she reminds me of the importance of praying for guidance in my children’s lives. She never fails to tell me how proud she is of me, and tell me that I set a good example for her. She still continues to strengthen me and help me do those things necessary to return to our Father in Heaven.
When I married Chris, I was blessed to gain another amazing mom in my life. Margaret has shown me time and time again what quiet, unassuming service looks like. Her service to her husband and her children is unfailing. She has the most unconditional love of anyone I have ever met. She has taught me not to sweat the small stuff. When she was diagnosed with cancer, she sent out letters and calls of comfort to her family. She was comforting us in our distress over the news of her condition! She has indeed been a blessing in my life. More than once I’ve been told by my friends and family (my own mom!) how lucky I am to have a mother-in-law like Margaret.
Almost twelve years ago, I gave birth to my first child. I had a very difficult delivery. Our bishop at that time, Brother Gary Reynolds, came to the hospital in the early hours of the morning to assist in giving me a blessing. Seeing the bishop, my dad and my husband all gathered around, I knew that Zack and I would be fine and we were. Despite his rocky beginning, both Zack and I came through happy and healthy. Later that month, I stood at this very pulpit to express the great love I felt for Zack. I had no idea that the love I would feel as a mother would be so intense, so overwhelming and strong. Once I experienced that great love, I felt that I had a small glimpse into the love that our Father in Heaven feels for each of us.
I’d like to close with the following quote from
Marjorie Pay Hinckley:
"I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails.
I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp.
I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor’s children.
I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden.
I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder.
I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived."
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no subject
Date: 2010-05-09 04:28 am (UTC)Thank you for sharing this. And Happy Mother's Day!
no subject
Date: 2010-05-11 01:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-11 01:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-11 01:13 am (UTC)I have a big old email to send you - but didn't want to use your journal for talking about it...it's about being childless...doctor appointment today...interesting stuff...
no subject
Date: 2010-05-11 04:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-09 12:40 pm (UTC)You know you can submit this to Exp II - there's a "talks" feature. :)
no subject
Date: 2010-05-11 01:12 am (UTC)Wow, that is such a powerful collection of beliefs! I never considered that motherhood was divine, an inherent authority, to be the saviors of human souls...But if I look around at the people in my church, it's always the women who get things moving.
Do you think, and seriously, I'm asking for your opinion, that maybe women like me who choose not to have kids can still reach out and sort-of mother or at least look out for the children around them? Obviously, it's not the same calling as bearing your own children, but...I guess, I just love the youth at my church. Each one of them is amazing and special. I feel so honored that I was allowed (maybe even called?) to work with them and our pastor. I might not be able to be a camp chaperon this summer and it's just breaking my heart.
anyway, this is your post and it's beautiful, the whole thing. I wish I could have heard you read this.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-11 04:34 pm (UTC)I'm glad you're having so much fun working with the youth in your church. I'd definitely say you've been called to do it! I can tell that both you and they are benefiting from this work. And yes, you do mother all those around you--your pets, your hubby, your friends and associates. And me :)
no subject
Date: 2010-05-11 05:35 pm (UTC)Sherri Dew sounds like an interesting woman.
I like my particular call to mothering. I guess it's a call that is unique to each woman.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-11 05:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-12 03:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-12 11:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-11 08:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-11 04:36 pm (UTC)I just wanted to clarify one thing from your comment. The LDS religion is a Christian religion. We believe in Jesus Christ and accept him as our Savior :)
no subject
Date: 2010-05-13 07:39 pm (UTC)I know that LDS is Christian. I have also been yelled at by both LDS and Christians in the past for saying that. I probably should have clarified that I am from a generic Christian background. Mother is Episcopalian, Father is Judeo-Christian. It made finding a church rather hard xD
no subject
Date: 2010-05-13 09:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-14 05:10 pm (UTC)