Daughters of Eve

(This post originally ran a year ago for Mother's Day. Sorry for the re-post. I'm having a bit of writer's block tonight.)

Being a mother can seem mundane. The cleaning, the cooking, the chauffeuring, the laundry. Then, you collapse into bed for a few hours of precious slumber before you get up to do it all again. This is mothering- a verb. But, being a mother is more than just the verb form of the word. Mother is also a noun. 

I am a Mother.

(My niece, Rachel, and her daughter, Rowe.)

I believe without any doubt, that I was called to be a mother before I ever  came into existence on this planet. I agreed to this divine role because I understood how god-like it is.  I am sure that I couldn't wait to give life to my spirit brothers and sister. 

I am a Mother. 

A mother like Eve. I think that all too often, our first mother gets a bad rap.  She is blamed for committing the first sin.  She did not, in my mind, make a mistake. She made a choice.  Because she understood.  She was the first of us who took a step and did what needed to be done for her family.  Mothers have been following in her footsteps ever since.

Take the mothers of the stripling warriors. (in the Book of Mormon)  These young men had amazing parents.  Their fathers weren't slackers by any stretch of the imagination.  Once converted, they (the fathers) made a vow to never use their weapons again.  These men were strong. But, isn't it interesting who the warriors gave credit to for teaching them?  

"yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.

And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying; We do not doubt our mothers knew it."(Alma 56:47-48)

They fought for the cause of their fathers, but it was their mothers who'd taught them about the gospel, about faith.

There are times when I feel a bit burdened by my mothering roles.  The load weighs me down. I need to remember that there is more to it. That my job has many aspects and the day to day upkeep is the least of them. Like Eve and the mothers of the stripling warriors, I must step up and do the things that may be hard, but that will bring such a great reward. Something I heard recently supports this.  Sister Beck, at the women's conference, asked, "Am I aligned with the Lord's vision of me and the roles He gave me in the pre-existence?" 

 My load is lifted. My burden is a heavenly one.  

I am a Mother.

It is a role, a calling, a duty, a privilege.  It is not just what I do, it is who I am.