Happy Mother's Day!

I was all caught up on my blog in December... and then I decided not to blog for 5 months. Oh well, life gets busy and I was using other social media to journal life events. I just wanted to share some thoughts I had lately before I get back to my normal family updates. So come back soon for regular family posts with lots of pictures and less writing. This post is a long one, so if you make it through give yourself a pat on the back!

 Sometimes Mother's Day is such a difficult holiday. I often feel like there are many areas as a mother I could be doing better and wish that I could have one day that could be perfect. Instead, Sheldon was traveling today and we made it to church late (but at least we made it there) and our kids are those crazy kids that I'm sure everyone wonders why they can't be a little more reverent. Halle climbed on top of the pew and spilled her lucky charms everywhere (very healthy snacks if you didn't know) and Finn, of course, didn't get enough lucky charms and was crying for more. The list goes on, but in spite of all that, I have been grateful lately to remember who I am. Specifically, a daughter of God who is building my eternal family. This perspective makes the not so perfect days, perfect in their own way.

Instead of Mother's Day being a painful holiday where we feel inadequate, or wish that we were a mother, or mourn the loss of mothers in our lives, I think we should instead focus on the fact that we are all daughters of our Heavenly Father and as such we have a divine heritage and divine potential. President Henry B. Eyring said at the General Women's Meeting:

"Your Heavenly Father, sees greater potential in His children than we or even our earthly mothers see in us. And whenever you move upward on that path toward your potential, it brings Him happiness. And you can feel His approval. 
He sees that glorious potential in all of His daughters, wherever they are. Now, that puts a great responsibility on each of you. He expects you to treat every person you meet as a child of God. That is the reason He commands us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves and to forgive them. Your feelings of kindness and forgiveness toward others come as your divine inheritance from Him as His daughter. Each person you meet is his loved spiritual child."

I love what he says about our divine inheritance. As women, we are especially good at nurturing others and whatever our position in life, whether it be a mom, grandma, sister, cousin, or friend, we need to remember to love others. The relationships that we build in this life is what we will take with us into the next life. As Bonnie L. Oscarson quoted, "I invite you to not only to love each other more but love each other better." I'm grateful for all the women in my life who have helped me become the person I am today and are still helping me become the woman I am meant to be!