Mothers Who Know

General Conference this weekend was truly inspirational and uplifting, as it always is, but I was personally drawn to the talk given by Julie B. Beck the General Relief Society President. It gave me a renewed love for being a mother and emphasized all of the things about this great responsibility that I have always deeply felt and tried to make a priority in my life, but have somehow lost track of in the last couple of years. I even watched conference again during the break on KBYU just so I could here her talk again. I can't wait to get the Conference Address issue of the Ensign so I can read in more detail and remember all her words and even though I can't remember the whole thing, I want to share what I got from it. The first thing I remember from her talk is that as Latter Day Saint Women we value children. I often get pulled into thinking that this work burdensome and too hard to do. The truth is that my work is hard but is should never be burdensome. I recognize that a little attitude adjustment may be in order for me. I need to be reminded everyday that this is a work that I love. The next part of her talk that I can remember is that women are nurturers. She stated that a very big part of nurturing is homemaking. I often relate nurturing to just the attitude of compassion and kindness toward my family but I see now that if I truly have feelings of compassion and kindness for my family that I should want to take care of them and create an environment where they can feel the spirit. Sister Beck talked about Mothers who know and how they learn to do with less. Less media for their families, less consuming of unnecessary goods and less time spent on activities that take us away from our families. These suggestions are all things I have truly felt for along time but I have not been sure how to apply these things in my life on a daily basis. Change can be so hard to do. I am reminded of Hanna who wrote one time about wanting to be more spiritual but that perhaps the reason she didn't pursue it was because she would have to give up things that to her were fun. Well I feel the same way. I worry that if I give all I can to my family then it will suck out all the fun of life and will require some hard work. I know that being the best mom I can be will require some hard work. I am reminded of the scripture Matthew 16: 25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. I have been thinking about this scripture a lot lately. I know that it is true and makes so much sense. Yet I find my self being a little too selfish. I do recognize and believe that women do need time to themselves to recharge and fill their own buckets but I also firmly believe we have such a great responsibility to put our families and the gospel first in our lives. So I had a thought that perhaps I would start another blog where we could share our ideas on these things. We could write about successful Family Home Evening Ideas, creative time savers, and just anything else that applies to being a homemaker. I know we already kind of do this on our personal blogs but my hope is that we will tell others about this blog so that we can get ideas from a much more diverse group of women as well. Maybe this is a silly idea but I sure could use some fresh ideas, because I feel like I have tried everything out there but I look forward to hearing your ideas that are already tried and true but I also hope we will share some of our most creative and new ideas as well. I don't know how long it will take me to set up another blog, but I'll let you know when it is up and running. Until then,
Happy Mothering!