The long days of mothering

I am drawn to a few blogs for various reasons. 

One such blog is written by a young mom with 3 very small children, actually ages 2, 1, and 2 weeks old. 
I am in awe over her honesty, her determination, her exhaustion, her faith. And I don't even know her.

Really, how does one care for basically 3 babies of varying ages and needs??

I have been thinking since yesterday of the post she wrote which begins with "The worst Sunday of my Life." 
 
(Be sure and watch the video link within that post, also. Or just go here. You will realize how blessed your children are to have YOU.)



Her post reminded me of the excellent talk Julie Beck gave last month at the BYU Women's conference that I was able to watch recently. So I watched it again today, and I'd like to share this quote from it:

Julie Beck speaking:
"Not long ago I visited with a young mother who recently had her 8th child. That's difficult to accomplish in these days. It is always wonderful when you can find a woman who wants 8 children and can have them. That combination doesn't happen very often. But she said she was interested and a little disappointed  in the comments from some of her friends who she thought understood the gospel, who had been writing to her saying, "You're making an interesting lifestyle choice." She said, "I didn't ever know this was a lifestyle choice. I thought it was a gospel choice. I thought this was what the gospel taught us to do. I don't do this because my children tell me I'm cute. I don't do this because I get all the help I need. I don't do this because anyone affirms what I'm doing. I do this because the Lord has taught me that it's the right thing to do. And He will help me on the difficult back breaking days..."  



Also, another quote from Julie Beck's talk:

"We know that women are the guardians of the hearth and home. And they have the responsibility for the hearts and souls of men and women and the children or our Heavenly Father. They are given this powerful and influential leadership role....This is all about nurturing, teaching, and influencing. These are non negotiable responsibilities. We cannot delegate them. We can accept them and live them. But these are things we understood before we were born and can't negotiate with the Lord about whether or not these are our responsibilities. They've been part of the plan from the beginning. They are not going to change because of any clamor to the contrary..."

8 comments:

Susan Anderson said...

Thanks for sending me over there. I really enjoyed reading her post and seeing the pictures, too.

What a cute mom!

=)

cristie said...

Julie B. Beck is such an inspiration to me. Thank you for sharing these quotes. xox

Eileen said...

'LOVED this post, Jill. 'LOVED the "worst Sunday" post, and 'LOVED the video too. And I copied your two quotes and I'll refer to them often. And I'm going to give them to all the young mothers in my circle of family/friends.
This really spoke to my heart and it's very timely for me.

Also, many thanks for your kind comments to me. And I feel the same way about you and your family. And I can't begin to tell you how many times a post of yours has helped me in my life.
Thank you.
Love and Prayers,
Eileen

Susan Rozier said...

Many tender emotions were felt during the reading of this post. Thanks for heart-tugs. Loved each part of it. Susan

Holly Decker said...

that is the sweetest thing anyone has ever written about me or for me- thank you so much! i really love those quotes and i had never heard them before. and thanks to your post, people that i really needed to hear from wrote on my blog- including you. thank you so very much! you are so inspired... and inspiring :)
hugs.

McKenna Heasley said...

I spent a little time looking at her blog and I really, really liked it! I agree she seems so honest and sincere. I also love the quotes you shared.

Darlene said...

Went to Holly and Jeff's blog and read a little about her life. It is so sad that people can be so insensitive. I think it is just wonderful that she has those three darling children and I am sure she is and will be a great mom to them. I told her about my friend that wanted 12 children and had them. What a great mom she was and is. She did it all by herself with only her husband to help her. It really can be done. Thanks for the info. I will probably look in on her blog occaisionlly to see how she is doing.

hope you are doing well too.........

grandmapeg said...

Mothering can be long and exhausting but so full of blessings. Sundays were a challenge for me with four children under the age of 5, especially when Craig was in the bishopric, but we all survived and I'd do it all over again!

Look what happened last night

  Just a little pre-graduating gathering for our DIL Amy.... Not everyday a Mom of 7 and a Grandma of 7, graduates from college. It was not ...