I was talking to a friend of mine the other day about Motherhood and how hard it is sometimes to know what the right decisions are for your children. It made me think of when my kids were little, not real little but little compared to now. They would often come home and ask if they could go over to a friend's house to play the next day. I would always ask them about their friend, what they liked about them and what they were planning to do when they got together. Then I told them I would first need to go over and meet their Mother and get a feel for the spirit of the home, to see if I felt like it was a safe place for them. The same would go for a party that they have been invited to or so on. The kids would not always like the idea that I was going to call the Moms and go over there to visit, they didn't like that I was going to ask what movie they were going to show at the birthday party, or who all was going to be chaperoning.
But having come from the background of ABUSE, I knew that it was my job as their Mother to protect them at all times, that meant even making sure that situations were safe even before they got put into them. My friend said "Wasn't that a lot of work?" You beat it was, that is exactly what Motherhood is all about. Not to be paranoid, but we do live in a day and time that very dangerous and we need to do all that we can to protect our children.
I was so grateful for the prompting's of the Spirit, I am not sure how some Mother's raise their families without it?
I pray each day that I can listen to the spirit, gut feelings, conscience or promptings ( however it is, that one acknowledge that feeling) but I know that everyone is born with that spirit or as it is called in the scriptures (Light of Christ ) within them. That has always made me realize that our Heavenly Father does really love us to give that spirit or light of Christ to each of us. As a Mother, that is exactly what I tried to remind my children, they had to learn to not only to recognize it... but listen to it and obey it. This is like having our own compass, built in within us. There are many things that Mother's need to teach their children before they go out into the world and for me this was top on my list.
I have always tried to share with my kids when I have felt those promptings and what the result was, when I did and did not listen to them. Many times the decisions I had to make were not always popular and it was hard to stick to my guns and do what I knew to be right when others disagreed but ...welcome to Motherhood, that is what it is all about, making the tough choices. We do it because we know it is right, we do it because it protects our kids, we do it because we love them and we do it because we love the Lord and know that He would never leave us astray.
So my conversation to this sweet young Mother ended with me sharing all these things that have been near and dear to my heart. I also shared with her, even though Motherhood is really the hardest job in the world, that it is also the most rewarding.
It is important to look into the eyes of our children and grandchildren,and realize they are are worth any tough decisions we have to make, protecting and teaching them is our responsibility and honor, for each one of them is truly worth it!
"A child has the right to feel that in his home he has a place of refuge, a place of protection from the dangers and evils of the outside world." ~ David O. McKay
"As parenting declines, the need for policing increases. There will always be a shortage of police if there is a shortage of effective parents! Likewise, there will not be enough prisons if there are not enough good homes."
--Neal A. Maxwell, "Take Especial Care of Your Family," Ensign, May 1994,
"It's never too late to have a happy childhood." ~Berke Breathed
No comments:
Post a Comment