My Mom
This is my Mom:
She's wonderful. I want to be like her in a lot of ways; she isn't perfect but she's a great mom. What makes her wonderful? A lot of things, not the least of which is that she married a great man who is also a great parent. She often used to tell us, "I had to wait a long time in order to find the very best dad that I could for you!" She did wait, she was twenty-nine when they were married. And she did find the very best dad in the world for me. Together they've given me many priceless gifts.
I'm very grateful for how my mom loves my dad so much--she gives him her complete respect and devotion and she has his as well. A lot of what I'm grateful for about my mom I am also grateful for about my dad.
For example, both of them have always loved spending time with me. When I was little each of them would look for opportunities to do fun things with me--my mom used to take me out to lunch after preschool and she made me feel so special. Likewise, my dad used to do daddy dates on Saturday mornings with each child; we'd do something fun together--just dad and me. My parents are the same today. They look for opportunities to spend time with me and each of my siblings. Last week they went on a weekend trip to Puerto Rico with Michael's family and a few days ago they went to Jacksonville with Joe's family.
In addition to their love for each other and the time they give to me and my siblings, I'm grateful for what my parents teach me. They are still teaching me what it means to obey "the first and great commandment," to love the Lord with all my heart, and with all my soul, and with all my mind.
When my mom was young she wanted either to become a nun or to marry someone who loved the Lord first, even more than her. The two LDS missionaries who taught her the gospel were the first young men she had ever met who fit that description and she loved that many other latter day saints did too. As she prayed to know if the teachings of the missionaries were true she promised Heavenly Father that she would be baptized if He wanted her to be. When she was baptized she obviously wasn't ever going to become a nun, but she still had a desire to serve the Lord. Subsequently, she spent a year and half as a missionary in Thailand and later married my dad and became my mom. Today there are two main ways I continue to see my mom's love for the Lord. One) Her voice is filled with love when she talks about Heavenly Father answering her prayers or the Savior's role in our lives. Two) She valiantly does her best to keep the other commandments and she keeps her covenants--her promise--which we all make as we are baptized and also when we go to the temple.
I treasure the gifts of learning that my parents have given me. I understand my purpose in life because of them. They've taught me to serve others, to be honest, to be kind, to acknowledge my mistakes and ask forgiveness, to forgive others, to pray, to trust the Lord and his promises to me so long as I am obedient, and much more.
Since my mom stayed home and was with me so much every day there are an abundance of memories I have with her. To conclude this post about her I'll share a few memories I have with just her:
Before the sun came up she and I sometimes went down to the beach for the first low-tide of the day to collect sea shells. Sometimes it was windy and freezing but we collected a ton of beautiful shells. We'd take them home and clean them together. Later we made make beautiful things out of those shells.
I remember sitting at the kitchen table learning how to count pennies. It was my first lesson in paying tithing. As I'd count ten cents out she said the first of every ten cents was tithing we give back to Heavenly Father.
Around the same time period I wanted to wash dishes like the older kids did. (I wish I still had this same desire.) She pulled a chair over to the sink and showed me how to wash dishes. It took time letting me try to do it and then extra because she had to wash them again. Four-year-olds aren't very thorough washers...
I wasn't the best at keeping my toys picked up, in fact I was horrible. I remember some days not being able to walk anywhere in my room without being knee-deep in toys. She taught me (after many many tries) that I'm happier when I keep my things organized. Likewise, everyone is happier when we do our Saturday jobs to clean the whole house.
Mom taught me to paint, to cook, to appreciate well-prepared food, to share, to do crafts (I loved doing crafts with her), to swim, to float, to enjoy reading, to value learning and school, to love animals, to appreciate nature, to love family, and more recently to can foods and to survive new-parenthood.
Recently I completed President Hinckley's biography; it impressed me how he wanted to become the kind of person that his parents and grandparents would be proud of because he admired them and loved them very much. Similarly, I have such a strong desire to live up to my parents' examples and their hopes for me to become whole, or complete--full of character, integrity, optimism, faith, and other virtues. I want to be as great a mother as my mom is!
She's wonderful. I want to be like her in a lot of ways; she isn't perfect but she's a great mom. What makes her wonderful? A lot of things, not the least of which is that she married a great man who is also a great parent. She often used to tell us, "I had to wait a long time in order to find the very best dad that I could for you!" She did wait, she was twenty-nine when they were married. And she did find the very best dad in the world for me. Together they've given me many priceless gifts.
I'm very grateful for how my mom loves my dad so much--she gives him her complete respect and devotion and she has his as well. A lot of what I'm grateful for about my mom I am also grateful for about my dad.
For example, both of them have always loved spending time with me. When I was little each of them would look for opportunities to do fun things with me--my mom used to take me out to lunch after preschool and she made me feel so special. Likewise, my dad used to do daddy dates on Saturday mornings with each child; we'd do something fun together--just dad and me. My parents are the same today. They look for opportunities to spend time with me and each of my siblings. Last week they went on a weekend trip to Puerto Rico with Michael's family and a few days ago they went to Jacksonville with Joe's family.
In addition to their love for each other and the time they give to me and my siblings, I'm grateful for what my parents teach me. They are still teaching me what it means to obey "the first and great commandment," to love the Lord with all my heart, and with all my soul, and with all my mind.
When my mom was young she wanted either to become a nun or to marry someone who loved the Lord first, even more than her. The two LDS missionaries who taught her the gospel were the first young men she had ever met who fit that description and she loved that many other latter day saints did too. As she prayed to know if the teachings of the missionaries were true she promised Heavenly Father that she would be baptized if He wanted her to be. When she was baptized she obviously wasn't ever going to become a nun, but she still had a desire to serve the Lord. Subsequently, she spent a year and half as a missionary in Thailand and later married my dad and became my mom. Today there are two main ways I continue to see my mom's love for the Lord. One) Her voice is filled with love when she talks about Heavenly Father answering her prayers or the Savior's role in our lives. Two) She valiantly does her best to keep the other commandments and she keeps her covenants--her promise--which we all make as we are baptized and also when we go to the temple.
I treasure the gifts of learning that my parents have given me. I understand my purpose in life because of them. They've taught me to serve others, to be honest, to be kind, to acknowledge my mistakes and ask forgiveness, to forgive others, to pray, to trust the Lord and his promises to me so long as I am obedient, and much more.
Since my mom stayed home and was with me so much every day there are an abundance of memories I have with her. To conclude this post about her I'll share a few memories I have with just her:
Before the sun came up she and I sometimes went down to the beach for the first low-tide of the day to collect sea shells. Sometimes it was windy and freezing but we collected a ton of beautiful shells. We'd take them home and clean them together. Later we made make beautiful things out of those shells.
I remember sitting at the kitchen table learning how to count pennies. It was my first lesson in paying tithing. As I'd count ten cents out she said the first of every ten cents was tithing we give back to Heavenly Father.
Around the same time period I wanted to wash dishes like the older kids did. (I wish I still had this same desire.) She pulled a chair over to the sink and showed me how to wash dishes. It took time letting me try to do it and then extra because she had to wash them again. Four-year-olds aren't very thorough washers...
I wasn't the best at keeping my toys picked up, in fact I was horrible. I remember some days not being able to walk anywhere in my room without being knee-deep in toys. She taught me (after many many tries) that I'm happier when I keep my things organized. Likewise, everyone is happier when we do our Saturday jobs to clean the whole house.
Mom taught me to paint, to cook, to appreciate well-prepared food, to share, to do crafts (I loved doing crafts with her), to swim, to float, to enjoy reading, to value learning and school, to love animals, to appreciate nature, to love family, and more recently to can foods and to survive new-parenthood.
Recently I completed President Hinckley's biography; it impressed me how he wanted to become the kind of person that his parents and grandparents would be proud of because he admired them and loved them very much. Similarly, I have such a strong desire to live up to my parents' examples and their hopes for me to become whole, or complete--full of character, integrity, optimism, faith, and other virtues. I want to be as great a mother as my mom is!
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