A pencil in the hand of God

I picked up a book this morning at a friend's house, entitled "I am a Mother." As I started reading it, I could not put it down. It is an easy read, but has so many profound ideas. Before I post what I have learned, I would like to give a little background of my feelings toward being a mother. If you had asked me 5 years ago if I had wanted to be a mother, I would have said something like this: "Yes, but I want to get a master's degree, then a Ph.D. and travel to a few countries." If you had asked me 3 years ago if I had wanted to be a mother, I would have said something like this: "Yes, but I'm applying to graduate programs right now, so it will have to wait for a few more years." If you had asked me 2 years ago how I like being a mother of an infant, I would have said something like this: "I love it and I would give up one hundred degrees for having the blessing of motherhood." When I was in college, I had two very important professors: one who wanted me to attend a university in England and one who supported the idea of marriage and family. The two would argue back and forth about which lifestyle was better for me. I think that the one who supports the family more wins. :) I must admit that when I found out I was pregnant 3 years (wow! that long ago?) ago, I was in shock, but excited at the same time. I had already applied to grad programs and had been accepted to a few on the east coast and knew that I would need to put that off because I knew, deep down, that my unborn child would take ultimate priority over any schooling. Yet, I was still sad at the same time. My dreams of attending these programs might never come to fruition after my baby was born. Once Emma was born, I knew that she had come at the right time for so many different reasons. One reason was that Heavenly Father was trying to humble me and give me the strength that it was took to raise this tiny infant. Two years later, Emma is still the greatest blessing and joy that has ever come to me and I still feel that I would give up anything else in my life to have her. After reading "I am a Mother," I learned several lessons and the most important one that I learned was to be proud of motherhood and when people ask me what I do, I will not say, "I'm just a mom." I am a mother.
Sorry for the rather extensive list, but I feel that all of these ideas need to be included from this book:

- Trust in the Lord, rather than the world
- Motherhood is near to divinity
- The immediate rewards are: love, joy, laughter and assurances, but there are no Christmas bonuses or vacation
- "Motherhood: 24/7 on the front lines of humanity. Are you man enough to try it?"
- We hold the power to change the perception of women
- God's kingdom will fail without righteous mothers
- Protect this role
- Let's not be apologetic about our own motherhood
- There are no rewards for the "best diaper change of the day"
- Money cannot buy motherhood
- As we sacrifice, we will be led by the Savior
- It's ok if we have unfinished projects
- We are co-creators with the Creator Himself
- "Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And it will make your children whole as well"
- The greater the submission to the Lord's will for mothers, the greater the expansion
- We are pencils in the hand of God
- We must allow the Lord to use us
- The most important things we have are relationships with families and loved ones
- If it looks good to the world, but doesn't feel good to the soul, it is not success at all
- "Place all that we have on the altar of God, kneel there in silent submission, and willingly walk away"
- When did caring for children become a labor of love smothered under a blanket of of sentimentality that hides its economic importance?
- Motherhood = enobling endowment
- Rely on Him, Rely on Him heavily, Rely on Him forever
- Rest if you must, but don't quit
-The hand the rocks the cradle is the hand the rules the world
- It's about seeing the big pictures
- Look beyond today to eternity
- There is no such thing as Supermom
- It's ok to take a break
- We need to take care of ourselves to take good care of our babies
- Live in the moment
- I do not lose my identity, but have an opportunity to more closely identify with God
- The Spirit must be present to magnify our calling as mothers
- Mothers who pray in faith receive revelation
- Love and support each other without judging
- Choose to be charitable
- Rejoice in this sacred calling
- How do we fulfill ourselves? By turning ourselves over to the Lord
- We are all mothers - there are no "just moms" involved

I wanted to include some pictures of Emma's first day, January 24, 2008. These were all taken within the first 24 hours. I have never posted these pictures anywhere because I didn't have Facebook or a blog back then. :)