A Mother Heart

For my 30x30 list, I have a goal to become a mother. When I wrote it I was thinking I would like to become a mother in the literal sense - you know, getting a baby to take home. But that hasn't happened to me. Yet. I am very hopeful that it will soon.

As I've thought about how I am going to check this off my list (because you know I have to), I decided to look into ways I could be a mother, without an actual kid. ;) After I said my prayers one night, I was inspired to review my Personal Progress goals, which I'm working on completing along with the Young Women in my ward. In this guide I found the following experience under the value of Divine Nature.

2. As a young woman you are blessed with divine feminine qualities. Increase your understanding of and appreciation for womanhood. Read Proverbs 31:10–31 and two talks on womanhood from a conference issue of the Church magazines. Review what “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” (see page 101) says about being a wife and a mother. Then ask your mother or another mother you admire what she thinks are important attributes for being a mother. List the attributes in your journal. Then choose one of those attributes and strive to develop it. After two weeks report your success to a parent or leader.

I was so happy! I wish I would have thought about this earlier. There are so many things I could be doing to prepare myself for being a mother now. In fact, I have really started to see my small trial as a blessing in disguise (I have a love/hate relationship with trial blessings). I really have a lot of time to prepare myself for motherhood. I've got time to think of cute activities. I've got time to study and learn the scriptures. I've got time to talk to my Heavenly Father. I've got time to figure out the best way for me to keep my house clean and orderly. I am beginning to be grateful for the extra time Heavenly Father is giving me to prepare to become a mother. 

So, here goes another journey for me. A journey towards having a Mother Heart. I've started with the small experience up above. I've read Proverbs 31:10-31 and The Family: A Proclamation to the World and this talk. I am planning on reading a lot more and interviewing my mothers. I will use this page to track my experiences and keep my ideas together. 

"Covenant-keeping women with mother hearts know that whether motherhood comes early or late; whether they are blessed with a “quiver full” of children here in mortality or not; whether they are single, married, or left to carry the responsibility of parenthood alone—in holy temples they are “endowed with power from on high” (D&C 38:32), and with that endowment they received the promised blessings and are “persuaded of them, and embraced them” (Heb. 11:13).

Every girl and woman who makes and keeps sacred covenants can have a mother heart. There is no limit to what a woman with a mother heart can accomplish. Righteous women have changed the course of history and will continue to do so, and their influence will spread and grow exponentially throughout the eternities. How grateful I am to the Lord for trusting women with the divine mission of motherhood. Like Mother Eve I am “glad” (see Moses 5:11) to know these things." Sister Julie Beck

I'm glad I made this goal. I'm excited to see what comes of it, even if it isn't in the traditional sense. :)

Here are my really fun moms.