Mother's Day...

Mother's Day this year was different than most because we stayed home. Aahhh! I was able to bask in the spoilage and I enjoyed EVERY minute. The highlights...

• Breakfast in bed
• Flowers, flowers and more flowers
• Homemade gifts from preschool (my personal favorite)
• A card from my husband that made me cry
• A call to my Mom. Miss her and love her.
• Hearing my son sing during Sacrament Meeting (because we normally go to my Mom and Dad's for this holiday we miss the primary songs sung to the Mother's. This was a special day. Another teary moment).
• Lunch and Dinner made by my sweet hubby.
• A few hours of alone time which consisted of reading a book and napping. Love it!
• Plenty of hugs and kisses.

It was a wonderful day. So much love and appreciation...it will carry me through for months to come!

"Recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments

There will be hard times and frustrating times.

But amid the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction.

There is no one perfect way to be a good mother. Each situation is unique.

Each mother has different challenges, different skills and abilities, and certainly different children.

The choice is different and unique for each mother and each family. Many are able to be “full-time moms,” at least during the most formative years of their children’s lives, and many others would like to be. Some may have to work part- or full-time; some may work at home; some may divide their lives into periods of home and family and work. What matters is that a mother loves her children deeply and, in keeping with the devotion she has for God and her husband, prioritizes them above all else.

Author Anna Quindlen reminds us not to rush past the fleeting moments. She said: “The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less”(Loud and Clear [2004], 10–11).
Pray deeply about your children and about your role as a mother. Parents can offer a unique and wonderful kind of prayer because they are praying to the Eternal Parent of us all. There is great power in a prayer that essentially says, “We are steward-parents over Thy children, Father; please help us to raise them as Thou wouldst want them raised.”I hope all of you dear sisters, married or single, never wonder if you have worth in the sight of the Lord and to the leaders of the Church. We love you. We respect you and appreciate your influence in preserving the family and assisting with the growth and the spiritual vitality of the Church. Let us remember that “the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children” (“The Family: A Proclamation to the World”). The scriptures and the teachings of the prophets and apostles help all family members to prepare together now to be together through all eternity. I pray that God will continually bless the women of the Church to find joy and happiness in their sacred roles as daughters of God."
M Russell Ballard