The Divinity of Motherhood

“Motherhood is near to divinity. It is the highest, holiest service to be assumed by mankind. It places her who honors its holy calling and service next to the angels." (Quote from here)

I believe this.

I really do.

And I try to remember this everyday.

But then everyday-raising-kids stuff happens, and I tend to forget it.

I mean, one doesn't exactly feel divine when clothed in holey pajamas, trying to see out of blood-shot eyes with lids that weigh at least 100 pounds each, and wondering whether you can get away with cereal for breakfast again.

Could you?

And then Piper starts running a fever, and Adi is crying because Mommy is so mean and won't take her to her friends' house and Porter breaks the lens on the camera. Winter is knocking on the door (does everyone have enough warm clothes?), class parties are around the corner, church callings, gotta do laundry, vacuum, cook dinner, oh, and Christmas is almost here....

And honestly, sometimes I just want to find an empty room with an industrial-sized lock, sit down in the corner, and cry.

But then Little Man toddles over, holding his cherished Cars blanket, and says, "Mommy, bap?" In English that means, "May I sit on your lap Mother?".

And Piper tells me that my burritos are the "bestest ever. Even better than Taco Bell."

And Miss Adi grabs my hand and tells me that she just wants to sit by me for a little while.

Now I really want to cry.

Not because I am overwhelmed or stressed.

No, but because I am so blessed to have these little monkeys to love and care for.

And even though I fail at my "job" 5 out of the 7 days of the week, I can only pray that those 2 success days will be enough to get this little family through the chores and the fights and the sickies.

I look at my children and can see in them the person that they are to be, and I feel privileged to be oneof the few who get to witness their growth and change.

And yeah, I have bad days.

Nothing can get rid of those.

But at least I know deep in my soul that some day they will all pay off.

I stumbled onto this little gold nugget of writing from President Hinckley:

"Most of you are mothers, and very many of you are grandmothers and even great-grandmothers. You have walked the sometimes painful, sometimes joyous path of parenthood. You have walked hand in hand with God in the great process of bringing children into the world that they might experience this estate along the road of immortality and eternal life. It has not been easy rearing a family. Most of you have had to sacrifice and skimp and labor night and day. As I think of you and your circumstances, I think of the words of Anne Campbell, who wrote as she looked upon her children:

You are the trip I did not take;

You are the pearls I cannot buy;

You are my blue Italian lake;

You are my piece of foreign sky.

(“To My Child,” quoted in Charles L. Wallis, ed., The Treasure Chest [1965], 54)

You [mothers] are the real builders of the nation wherever you live, for you have created homes of strength and peace and security. These become the very sinew of any nation.”

After reading this, how can I not feel divine?