Because she is a mother

I needed this today.

Sometimes I get discouraged with my parenting, specially when my kids don’t get to do things without me yelling or threatening them. There is no such a thing as perfect parenting; we will still make mistakes despite how hard we try. I believe the magic is just keep doing our very best and hoping one day our children will understand we are far from perfect but we love them unconditionally, and we just want them to be safe and happy.

“The work of a mother is hard, too often unheralded work. The young years are often those when either husband or wife -or both- may still be in school or in those earliest and leanest stages of developing the breadwinning capacities. Finances fluctuate daily between low and nonexistent. The apartment is usually decorated in one of two smart designs- Deseret Industries provincial or early Mother Hubbard. The car, if there is one, runs in smooth tires and an empty tank. But with night feedings and nights teethings, often the greatest challenge of all for a young mother is simply fatigue. Through these years, mothers go longer on less sleep and give more to others with less personal renewal for themselves than any other group I know at any other time in life. Is is not surprising when  the shadows under their eyes sometimes vaguely resemble the state of Rhode Island.

(...) it is clear that some of those Rhode Island-sized shadows come just not from diapers and carpooling but from at least a few sleepiness nights spent searching the soul, seeking earnestly for the capacity to raise these children to be what God wants them to be. Moved by that kind of devotion and determination may I say to mothers collectively, in the name of the Lord, you are magnificent. You are doing terrifically well. The fact that you have been given such a responsibility is everlasting evidence of the trust your Father in Heaven has in you. He knows that your giving birth to a child dies not immediately propel you into the circle of the omniscient. If you and your husband will strive to love God and live the gospel yourselves; if you will plead for that guidance and comfort of the Holy Spirit promised to the faithful; if you will go to the temple to both make and claim the promises of the most sacred covenants a woman or man can make in this world; if you will show, including your children, the same caring, compassionate, forgiving heart you want heaven to show you; if you try your best to be the best parent you can be, you will have done all that a human being can do and all that God expects you to do.

You can't possibly do this alone, but you do have help. The Master of Heaven and Earth is there to bless you- He who resolutely goes after the lost sheep, sweeps thoroughly to find the lost coin, waits everlastingly for the return of the prodigal son. Yours is the work of salvation, and therefore you will be magnified, compensated, made more than you are and better than you have ever been as you try to make honest effort, however feeble you may sometimes feel that to be.

Rely on Him. Rely oh Him heavily. Rely on Him forever. And "press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope". You are doing God's work. You are doing it wonderfully well. He is blessing you and He will bless you, even -no, specially- when your days and your nights may be the most challenging. Like the woman who anonymously, meekly, perhaps even with hesitation and some embarrassment, fought her way through the crowd just to touch the hem of the Master's garment, so Christ will say to the women who worry and wonder and sometimes weep over their responsibility as mothers, "Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole". And it will make your children whole as well".

Jeffrey R. Holland