Motherhood: It Matters

Saturday night I was wallowing in self pity and was dreading being celebrated for feeling obligated in my role as mother. Fun times. But all melted away with this stirring reminder: motherhood is important and that's why you're being honored tomorrow and that's why you stick with it each and everyday.

Being celebrated for the amount of work I do is what makes me hate Mother's Day. It makes me think, "holy cow, motherhood is truly a lot of work and that's what the rest of my existence will be like." Can I get a "wahoo"? This lovely thought fills me with overwhelming despair and self pity. 

When my focus is on the crying and ornery kids I wake up to everyday, or my kitchen floor that will not stay clean, or the fact that some things I do everyday, even all day, aren't what I would particularly choose to be doing, I begin to feel obligated, sorry for myself, and start wallowing in self pity.

Are you ready for the encouraging and hopeful truth yet? 

For obvious reasons, the above description of motherhood is not why I stick with it. I don't create another battle plan for handling ornery starving kids in the morning because I enjoy this challenge. I don't discipline because it makes me feel refreshed and calm. I do these things because being a mother is the most important thing I can be doing here and in the eternities.

This one thought teaches us how important each individual is to Heavenly Father. Brynlie and Trevin are so important to Heavenly Father that he needs a nurturing yet strong mother to teach them to be Christlike and to rely on Christ's grace so they can return to live with Him. How humble, tearfully humble, I feel to answer the call to give my best effort. How complaining about washing a kicking and screaming one year old's hands sounds trivial when I remember how important it is to Heavenly Father that Trevin is cared for, loved, and taught Christ's gospel.

Christ didn't enjoy suffering for our sins. He specifically asked, "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me."  But he stuck with it because Heavenly Father's will is incredibly important, "nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done."

Christ knows what it's like to not be utterly thrilled to do the important work Heavenly Father has for each of his children. In fact, Christ said, "[this is] not my will..." But Christ is the master at doing what Heavenly Father asks whether or not it's what we want to to. He is the master at trusting Heavenly Father's plan and the role Heavenly Father has asked us all to play. As mothers we have the privilege and the challenge of teaching and caring for his precious children because that is what Heavenly Father has asked us to do. We can have fun and have a good time, but when we aren't having fun and when we are sick of it, it's okay. We've just been asked to stick with it, remembering Heavenly Father's will and his love for his children. Motherhood. It's the most important thing we, as mothers and women, can do. It's a privilege and a challenge we humbly accept.