Happy Mother's Day to ALL!

My mother, daughters, sisters and friends--some of the wonderful women in my life.
Unlike so many women I know, I love Mother's Day. I get to celebrate the fact that my wonderful, adorable mother put up with me for so many years! And that she still loves me even though I gave her grief! I get to rejoice in the fact that God shared ten of His children with me. Sure I messed up many times, but He sent His Son to make up for my failings and they will be compensated. But most of all, I get to smile when I hear all those stories in Church about other people's perfect mothers because I know that when I'm dead and gone my children will tell stories about how I was perfect, too.

I do know that many woman who aren't mothers and wish they were hurt. I can understand why they hurt on Mother’s Day. I can also understand how those whose children don’t love them back or who have strayed from righteousness hurt on Mother’s Day. But as we have talked about here in this blog, everyone hurts over something and this kind of pain is unnecessary pain. It is a choice!

On Mother's Day instead of hurting, there can still be rejoicing for your own mothers or for the concept of motherhood in general. You can use the Truth Tools to make Mother’s Day a day to rejoice in instead of making yourself hurt. For all who are tempted to choose hurt, you can Anchor yourself and feel the joy that surrounds you. You can Yield to the Spirit and let Him bring you peace. You can Rewrite your story. You can concentrate on the Atonement and the healing power it has for you and for your children. Through the Atonement you can be made the perfect mother! All mistakes can be eliminated because of Jesus Christ. What better thing to rejoice about?

For those who hurt because they aren’t mothers, pretend that for every rejoicing thought that you have on Mother’s Day, it means there is one more child you get to have for all the eternities. Use your imagination! Feel the arms of your adorable children around your neck. Whisper in their ear how much you love them. It really isn’t pretending. The promise from God is that every righteous woman will someday be a mother. So project yourself into the future and enjoy now instead of hurting. Wonder about them. Will they have dark hair or light? Blue eyes or brown? Use a little humor, after all the celestial diapering system has got to be better than the one we have here. Soak yourself in the delight of what will be instead of what isn’t yet! We are told that with God the past, present, and future are all one. With a little imagination, they can be one for you also.

In short, Mother’s Day can be a day of rejoicing for all women! Imagine the positive energy we could send out into the world if all of us choose to rejoice instead of regret.

So my prayer for all of you is that today you will rejoice and enjoy! Make it a Happy Mother's Day!