"We hope you will thank them, especially by the way you live," he said. "Your lifelong faithfulness and devotion to the Savior and His Restored Church will be the highest demonstration of gratitude that you can offer your [mother]."
This mother's day I hope my mom knows how much I love her and appreciate her dedication to raising six pretty awesome people. She taught me to clean and to cook. She instilled in me her love of reading, especially the scriptures. Many mornings I would find her out by the fire reading and pondering. I love her spontaneity and love of travel. I hope she knows that the way I live my life in purity and faith is my gift to her.
I've found as I have more and more birthdays that things really don't have any significance in the quality of relationships. In a recent email, my mother-in-law Laura stated, "You know I don't want presents, but I love visits and phone calls." Isn't that true. If you really want depth to a relationship, you have to give of your time and attention. Visit once in awhile. Come out from behind the phone and make an actual call for no reason other than to just keep a healthy connection alive. Send that note in the mail. Retreat behind that phone and type a quick text. Relationships should be so easy to keep vibrate and thriving in this day of instant communication, but sometimes they get stifled because of the easiness of it all.
I too don't really need material gifts. As a mom, the greatest gift I could ever hope to receive from my kids is found in this scripture 2 Nephi 31:20.
1. Pressing forward with a steadfastness in Christ. Faith may have its ups and downs but working on it is key to keeping it alive. Don't let your faith become stagnant or complacent.
2. Having a perfect brightness of hope. Hope is one of the greatest of all things. It brings peace and confidence and light to some very chaotic and dark times. It gives us light to see clearly.
3. Having a love of God. When we truly love God with our all, the inconsequential things in our life will find themselves at the bottom of the heap. And don't forget that with God all things are possible. Remember Gideon in our old testament reading? His army was reduced to 300 and they conquered. Trust God and you win every time.
4. And [a love] of all men. Be kind. Everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be generous. Give of your time and talents and money in helping others and it will come back to you tenfold. Be thoughtful in your service opportunities.
Behind every great man and woman is his mother. Someone imagined the mothers of these well-known sons making the following comments:
Mrs. Morse: “Sam, stop tapping your fingers on the table--it’s driving me crazy!”
Mrs. Lindbergh: “Charles, can’t you do anything by yourself?”
Mrs. Washington: “George never did have a head for money.”
Mrs. Armstrong: “Neil has no more business taking flying lessons than the man on the moon.” (Reader’s Digest)
Mothers do influence their sons and daughters! One of life’s greatest blessings is to have a godly mother. And, thus, one of the greatest gifts you can give your children is to be a godly mother.
I'm soooooo grateful for my godly mother who taught me what it's all about to be godly myself. As Alex likes to tell me, "You are my best mom." Julie Seamons: You are my best mom.
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