Mother Mother

Rob and Dustin planned and cooked lunch for us today for Mothers Day. We all met up at Aprils and visited while the guys BBQ'd.

Mothers day is such an interesting day. I wonder if anyone really grasps the concept of it. I don't. LOL. I found myself trying to be extra nice to my kids, so they would be extra nice to me. I decorated the house as if it was someones birthday and baked pink cornbread for breakfast. Rob laid out chocolates on the bed with a corresponding letter telling me how great a mom I am.lol. He tried taking all the kids outside so I could spend some time alone and I was so confused....why would I want to be alone????? I just wanted to spend the day with my hubby and kiddies. The kids made little necklaces at church that had chores written on paper flowers that they will do for me. They were so excited to show me.....if they only knew what it said....my little babysitter, Annie, spoke in sacrament and ended her talk by saying "I'm grateful my parents raised me the way that they did because if they didn't I wouldn't be as smart and religous as I am". Our lesson in relief society had everyone crying, because "yes, even though we are not perfect, God loves us". Such a weird day.

Every year on mothers day I think of one particular year. I don't know why, it's not a nice memory. I was really young, 5th or 6th grade. My dad was mowing the lawn, and I had this great idea that I would help him. I yelled at him over the roaring of the mower "DAD...DAD....CAN  I FOLLOW BEHIND YOU WITH THE PUSH MOWER??" My Dad didn't answer me or even acknowledge he had heard me. "DAD.....DAD...DAAAAAAAAAD!! CAN I GET THE OTHER MOWER OUT? YOU KNOW THE ORANGE ONE??" Still no answer. No acknowledgment. "DAD...DAD..DAAA" The mower turned off and my Dad snapped. He proceeded to tell me everything that was wrong with what just took place. I ran in the house crying. He felt like he had more he needed to say me. I remember my mom coming into the situation confused and worried. What followed was family chaos. My Dad walked out fuming. He walked back in within moments with a bouqet of ballons in his hands. One was a big foil heart that said "happy mothers day". They were from the church. He chucked them in the house and slammed the door behind him.

Years later when I was 21, I sat in the yard with my Dad as he rested from just mowing the lawn. The last years had been quite the journey. We had come so far. I was leaving for Canada in the next couple of days. My Dad grabbed my hand and told me I had given him a whole new testimony of the atonement of Jesus Christ. How sorry he was for our lost years. I was shocked. I felt the same way about him.

I am ending this Mothers day thinking about my Savior, his love, and his sacrifice. "I stand all amazed". The atonement gave me a relationship with my family I didn't know was possible. The atonement healed our wounds before it was too late. Because of the atonement I am a mother and a wife. I want more than anything for my kids to know how much I love them and how much they mean to me. And last of all, because of the atonement, I get to be with my family foever. It doesn't get much better than that.

Happy Mothers Day.