Saturday, October 6, 2012

Nurturing - The Tiny Acts of a Mom

I LOVE being a mother!!! :D  I am SO THANKFUL for the blessing I have to be a mother! :) I'm also thankful for simple life experiences (like gardening and exercise) that help me to learn about how to be a better mother. I think of gardening A LOT when I think of nurturing my children.

I just read a blog post in which a mother talked about the critical times in a child's life, and of the importance of paying attention and noticing these times - and really paying attention to our kids and being there for them when they need us... .looking at the pictures they draw and show to us with real interest and then providing encouraging feed back... talking with them and building them up ... I love to read inspiring words like these (thanks Ginger)!

Reading this post provided me with an awesome reminder to really BE THERE for my kids, and with my kids - REALLY  LISTENING intently to what they mean to say and how they feel 100 %.

As I read that post I immediately thought of my garden again, as I had earlier this morning. I thought of how my garden teaches me about SO MANY aspects of life - one of which is being a mother.

My gardening experiences have taught me another amazing truth about the sacred role we mothers have to nurture our families - that even in our imperfections and occasional neglect to care for them as we should - they survive... We do not need to stress or fret over our imperfections and shortcomings.

But it is even more wonderful and amazing to see that such tiny little acts of nurturing  - especially if consistent - can make such a HUGE impact and promote enormous growth!

I think knowing this, and really investing our time and efforts where they matter make being a mother THAT MUCH MORE EXCITING and REWARDING! :)

I love The Family: A Proclamation to the World. Since my husband and I have taken this to heart and strove to follow the counsel given here, our family has been increasingly blessed. It has taken us a long time to implement some of it and we are still not perfect at it; but as we have gotten better at it the results have been astounding. The BLESSINGS that come from following this counsel are SO WORTH THE EFFORTS! Here are two paragraphs from that Proclamation that I really love...

HUSBAND AND WIFE have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. “Children are an heritage of the Lord” (Psalm 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.

THE FAMILY is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation. Extended families should lend support when needed.
Click on the link below if you would like to read the entire Proclamation...
The Family: A Proclamation to the World

I'm so thankful to Heavenly Father for giving me the sacred roles of wife and mother! And I'm so thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ for teaching me how to nurture - as the Proclamation of the Family suggests I am primarily responsible for.

I am not a natural nurturer (though I do love). It has been a constant struggle for me to learn how to be a nurturing mother. I don't know that I will even remotely "have it down" before the kids leave home, and know that I will still be working on developing these nurturing skills through my grand mothering years, and perhaps throughout all eternity!

But as the Holy Spirit has taught me through my garden - as long as I do my best to nurture them there is nothing to fear. They will survive my shortcomings very well. All the small and simple things I do to nurture them will give them strength to survive the storms of life; and after all is said and done (even if some of them stray for a while and have to learn a thing or two thorough experience - though I don't think they will) - those who are nourished will grow up to be beautiful, productive, kind, good people... :) 

I love the peaceful feeling inside me as I find myself renewed in my desires to be a better mother, and of the assurance I have that I can be; ALL women can all find joy in being a mother - for that is what our Father in Heaven created us to be!... :)

PS. It is almost time for General Conference to start, so I must be going now. I'm so excited to hear the lord's Prophet and Apostles! :D Every conference provides life changing information for me! I love to listen to the talks given at conference over and over again! :)( I just started doing this a few months ago on my I-pod while exercising and I LOVE it!). Here is the link; General Conference Come check it out! :D

Corine Moore :D

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