Hi Internet,
It's Midterms. Ugh. I've been procrastinating studying by distracting myself with shiny objects, extra running, and watching Netflix. But, I've been studying a talk by my "
best friend"
Julie B. Beck this week and I decided I would share a few thoughts, because it's MY blog, and I can. :)
Sister Beck is the General Relief Society President for my church. She is the president of the largest Women's organization in the world. 2 years ago she came to my town and I was able to meet her. She is an AMAZING woman. She even told me I was neat!
It changed my life.
I was in a meeting where she was asking for questions from the audience and I felt like I should ask what counsel she had for young single sisters. I remember distinctly her looking into my eyes and saying exactly what I needed to hear. She told me I was much like her mother. He mother didn't get married until she was older, and was a young single professional woman with a "car, golf clubs and skis." She married a widower with 3 small children and quickly began a family.
I remember finding peace and comfort in her words.
Sometimes I lie when people ask me what I want to be when I "grow-up." I usually say "a teacher," but what I really want to say is that I want to be a wife and mother.
That's all I've ever wanted to be since I was a little girl. I played "House" everyday in Kindergarten as a little girl. While some girls played pretend horses or imagined themselves as mermaids, I was busy cooking in the kindergarten kitchen, being the mom.
It's hard sometimes to feel like the thing that I want most is so far away sometimes.
But, last week I read Sister Beck's talk
"A 'Mother Heart'" and again I have found peace and solace in her words. (I think EVERY woman should read it. It's AMAZING!)
She begins by talking about her mother,
She took longer than most women to find her husband, but during her single years she had devoted her life to progress. Though it was uncommon at the time, she was university educated and advancing in a career. Following her marriage, children arrived in quick succession; and in a short span of years, she was the mother of a large family. All the knowledge she had acquired, all her natural abilities and gifts, all her skills were channeled into an organization that had no earthly bounds. As a covenant-keeping daughter of God, she had prepared all her life for motherhood.
I love how Sister Beck's mother was ACTIVELY living her life.
She had a career and was making progress in her life. Those skills and attributes that she was able to develop during her single years, while longer than most LDS women's, played a pivotal role in helping her become an amazing mother.
She had a mother heart.
A woman with a mother heart has a testimony of the restored gospel, and she teaches the principles of the gospel without equivocation. She is keeping sacred covenants made in holy temples. Her talents and skills are shared unselfishly. She gains as much education as her circumstances will allow, improving her mind and spirit with the desire to teach what she learns to the generations who follow her.
I loved this quote, because none of these qualities actually require a child or official title of mother. Truly, any woman can learn to become more like Jesus Christ, become patient and self-less, be educated and improve herself. In fact, I have been blessed with a tremendous opportunity to learn and practice these qualities now, before I have the added responsibilities of a family of my own.
In my experience I have seen that some of the truest mother hearts beat in the breasts of women who will not rear their own children in this life, but they know that “all things must come to pass in their time” and that they “are laying the foundation of a great work” (D&C 64:32–33 ).
I want to be a mother. I want to be a mother with a mother heart, someone who understands who I am and how I fit in to my Heavenly Father's plan. Someone who is kind and patient, who is selfless and has capacity to lift those around me. Someone who can teach and love others.
I am glad to have this time in my life to prepare myself to be a better person and develop a "Mother Heart."
