Monday, May 30, 2011

Why are YOU an Amazing Mother?

When I was a brand new missionary, one of my leaders gave me a challenge to write a three page essay on why I was an amazing missionary.

My response? Yeah, right! How can I write anything about being an amazing missionary when I'm not!

I could easily think of million reasons why I wasn't an amazing missionary.

I couldn't speak the language (Mandarin Chinese, enough said).
 I wasn't getting along with my companion. (She was a native of Taiwan who didn't speak English. As already mentioned, I didn't speak Chinese.)
 I had no clue what was going on 90% of the time.
I thought it was a miracle we actually ever found our way home.
My faith was not as strong as I thought it would be.

My task of writing an essay about being amazing was not going to be an easy task. But, I had been given a challenge by a leader. Even if I didn't feel like an amazing missionary, I knew I could be an obedient one.

I cannot remember how long it took me to complete my essay - one week, maybe two. I only had 30 minutes each day during individual gospel study to work on it.

The process of writing the essay was transforming.

I began to look for evidences of what made a missionary amazing. I knew all the things that were commonly given as answers - great faith, exact obedience, love for everyone, etc.

But I also began to look for evidences of what made ME an amazing missionary.

The answer came in the form of a primary saying.

I am a Child of God.

As a child of God, I knew I had godly attributes already in me just waiting to be developed. I didn't have to start from stratch.

As a child of God, I had access to His help and knowledge to do the work I needed to do.

As a child of God, how could I be anything but AMAZING?

So why do I share this story?

I think it is just as easy to fall into the same rut as a mother. The rut where it is infinitely easier to list all the reasons why you are not a good mother.

My list goes something like this right now:
My house if never clean.
Laundry, dirty and clean, are strewn everywhere.
My kids don't have a normal bedtime.
I don't like to cook - ever!

I could go on forever, but that would just be depressing. You all know what that list looks like anyway because I am sure that you all have one of your own that is updated on a regular basis.

When was the last time you made a list of why YOU are an amazing mother?

I challenge each of you to just take some time in the next couple of days to sit down and write down why you are an amazing mother. You can post those comments here or just write them down for yourself in your journal. Write them whereever you are comfortable sharing them.

On my mission, this challenged changed my outlook dramatically. To this day I am impacted by the lessons I learned.

 I know that when you take the time to let Heavenly Father show you why you are an amazing mother, you will find strength you didn't know you had and a greater appreciation for the talents you do have.

Lisa

3 comments:

Heather said...

Really? Can I share? I read this post this morning and it got me thinking. There are many days when I'm tough on myself for what I'm unable to do. But, today was one of those POWERHOUSE days when you get more done than you thought you would. As such, I'm putting it here--how I was an AMAZING mother today:

I've had an extremely productive day that I'm about to brag about. :) I got the lawn mowed. I got some tomato and pepper plants and planted them in the garden. I also got some bedding plants and flowers and planted them. I got my laundry done and put away (which is a big accomplishment for me). I cleaned out a closet and made a trip to DI. I made bread. I even took a nap. I also read to my children, took them out to ice cream, and pushed them on the swing. WOW! I am amazing!! :) It felt good to get so much done.

Tannie Datwyler said...

I love this post. I also really love Heather's comment!! I've been very sick, so I'm just now getting to this.

Why am I an amazing mother? The last 2 weeks I haven't been so amazing. It's been rough on my kids and me and there have been so many times when I've just wanted to throw in the towel. I luckily feel good right now so I'm taking a minute to write.

I think I'm an amazing mother because through these last two weeks I didn't give up - even though I wanted to. That's something I think we all do as mothers that makes us amazing.

Heather said...

Amen, Tannie! I think "Sticking it Out" would be the number one job requirement if you had to apply to be a mom. That is something to be proud off, my friend!