Why Motherhood is Worth It

Happy Mother's Day!

This just seems perfect. My first testimony post is in time for Mother's Day and I was already wanting to talk about motherhood as an extension of introducing myself in these first posts.

In real time, I'm in the midst of a great need to remind myself of why I am doing this on a day to day basis.

Motherhood is hard.

But it is always worth it. Sometimes we just lose sight of that in the moment.

And yet, this was always my dream job. Growing up I knew two things for sure: I was going to get married in the temple and be a stay-at-home mom. I did get married in the Rexburg temple and I am so blessed to have a  husband who provides sufficiently for our family to allow me to be a stay-at-home mom.

So being a mother has always been a high priority for me. But why? What are my incentives? I explored this before I ever got pregnant in a paper I wrote for a college English class. I could just link to it, but to save you having to read ten double-spaced pages of well-documented research, I'll just quote my abstract.

In this piece the author explores the question as to why mothers should stay home to nurture their children by looking at the results of having the mother absent from the lives of their children. These include the rising rates of child obesity, misbehaviors, and other symptoms of unhappiness in children and adolescents. This author proposes that such problems are largely due to mothers being absent and neglecting the nurture of their children. Therefore this author has an increased resolve to be a stay-at-home mother herself for the benefit of her children.

Basically, I got to look at all the bad stuff that can happen when there isn't a stay-at-home mom in the picture and that was more than enough incentive. I wanted my babies to be healthy, happy, and safe, and I felt I was best able to make that happen.

Now that I am a mother in truth I can see all the little moments that make it all worth while. I love that I can count on getting smiles from my baby and I love it when my toddler just wants to snuggle. They both amaze me each and every day. Watching them grow and progress is what gives me warm fuzzies.

It's the occasional tantrum when they are both crying and I'm at the end of my rope that I forget the big "Why am I Doing This".

I am doing this because I believe in being a nurturer and I take The Family: A Proclamation to the World as my pattern.

Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live...Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children.

Love and compassion are my foundation. Repentance and forgiveness are my daily tools. And my faith is strengthened everyday as I learn a little more how to be Christ-like. My children show me what Christ meant when he commanded us to "become as little children" (Matt. 18:3). My children are the greatest examples of forgiveness in my life, which shows me where I have much room to improve.

My sweetest moments are when I just tell my babies that I love them and in my heart I feel heavenly echos reminding me that I too am loved even more than I can comprehend.

So, yes, being a mother is hard, but it is also my path to Heaven. The path is often bumpy, but I don't walk it alone.

In God’s eternal plan, salvation is an individual matter; exaltation is a family matter. (Elder Russell M. Nelson)

 That is why it is worth it. Eternally worth it.