A Mother's Work

I've been a mother for a number of years now...not long compared to some...but almost a decade!

And it seems to me that moms as a group are always looking to the future -- whether it be looking out for a danger up in front of our children, planning for their next meal, next test, or their choice of friends or higher education...

We get pretty caught up in their futures, planning for them, praying for them.

I think for me at least, I see this 'work' that I do and I dream about some future rewards.

I see graduation stages, prom dresses, academic honors, athletic achievements and then I look at my four little ones and I dream even bigger.

But this week I heard something on the radio that made me stop my dreaming of the future at least for a bit. I'm going to tell the little phrase I heard and add in my own thoughts and story to it...

You see as a mom of three girls I dream of three weddings in my future. I see each of my daughters standing at the back of a church, clutching their daddy's arm, walking to the front and being handed off to 'Prince Charming', the one they've dreamed about and the one I've been praying about!

I see the pretty pure white dresses -- reflecting their pure white hearts.

I dream about helping them select those perfect gowns - of shedding tears as they come out of a dressing room saying, "Mom, this one's the one!"

But the radio announcer reminded me that the day in the bridal shoppe that I am dreaming about will come soon enough...and until then I have a bigger job to do than selecting a pure white dress...

My job is teaching, preparing, praying, displaying, molding...their pure white hearts...reflecting the love of their Savior and belonging to Him first.

What a task! What a responsibility! What an Honor!

So while we dream about those 'big' days in the future -- we have awesome work to be doing now.

Building pure white hearts with the help of our Heavenly Father.

Now there is a job description.

And luckily we have this promise to encourage us along the way,

Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it."

Happy Mother's Day, 2010!

And thank you, Lauren Elaine, Avery Elizabeth, Sullivan Joseph, Contessa Caroline and sweet #5 for giving me this amazing honor and for teaching me along the way.

The word 'love' really doesn't even describe how I feel for each of you...