"We Do Not Doubt Our Mothers Knew It"

Last night I was sitting at the kitchen table studying while my oldest was doing Algebra. We are into 4 days of school and he told me that so far he is getting all A’s. I looked up to see if he was joking. He was instead beaming with pride. He then said something I really want to remember, “I have learned so far to pray really hard, and Heavenly Father really helps, of course I have to work hard too, but I have been praying in school and I really see a difference.” My little eighth grader gets it. My heart is soaring.

“Every mother is a teacher. No formal degree is required, but your determination to instruct prayerfully and lovingly and according to God’s plan is prerequisite to your success – and theirs.” Virginia U. Jensen

I have been given many tests, some I aced, and others I bombed. The trick as a mother is now we are given tests in front of our children. Each trial we deal with writes a script in their head of how they will deal with their future trials. My obesity was a self imposed, very difficult trial. I struggled so hard and my children noticed. They saw me hide from cameras, and saw me rummage through my closet looking for something that would fit me. They heard me complain. I am sure they noticed. They saw me diet unsuccessfully; once I made a loud declaration that I was giving up chocolate for a month and my oldest laughed as I dug into the chocolate one week later. I laughed with him, but cringed at my example.

They saw everything change once I began to ask the Lord for help. I told my kids that I had received a priesthood blessing and that Heavenly Father was going to help me. They watched me get back from running tired, crampy and sweaty. They watched as my body changed. My second son kept saying, “Wow mom, you look different…in a good way.” I hope they know that I give all credit to my partnership with God. I hope that they know that through Him I can do hard things. I hope they try it out in their lives. When my oldest said that he was praying in algebra class, I couldn't help but wonder if he got some of that from me. I hope so, I fail as a mother in so many ways, my floor is sticky, my bathrooms get neglected, I am impatient, and my scrap booking skills are non-existent, but I am a woman of faith, and I hope that they can say that they were taught that if they “did not doubt, God would deliver them” (Alma 56:47)

Losing weight for me was not just a temporal journey, but a spiritual one. Motherhood consists of other temporal activities which teach spiritual lessons. These lessons are taught on the way to soccer as much or more as they are taught in Sunday school.

“Women have many choices and many obligations, but strengthening our family members remains the single most important thing we can do with our time.” Virginia U. Jensen