Mommy and the Christus



Hello friends... or whoever is reading my blog.

Funny story. Usually when I am done with a blog entry I post it to Facebook and then send the link to my husband. He usually responds with something like this, "Hey that was a great post. But I think you meant 'lose' not 'loose'." And then I go ugg... you're right... oh well, I don't care THAT much. 

And that's what it's like living with an english major. Haha. No bitter feelings, really. It's actually quite helpful. One of my favorite things is saying a word that he doesn't know! AND in the correct context. It's pretty exciting.

Well, that was completely off topic for what I wanted to discuss today, but I think my husband is grrrreat! And I was thinking about him. And this is my blog and I can do whatever I want. So there.

----

My baby is almost 7 months old now. The first couple months seemed to last forever (and I suppose anyone who is sleep deprived feels this way), but the last three or four months have FLOWN by! She's just starting to crawl. Actually, she CAN crawl. I've seen her do it when she wants a toy badly enough. I bet if she was around another baby who was already crawling she would crawl more.

So the other day she was sitting on her bum, which is her favorite way to be on the floor, and she was getting upset and clearly wanted me to pick her up. Instead of just giving her what she wanted I made her work for it (as I assume any good parent does). 

I reached my arms out to her, beckoning her to come to me. In that moment I saw the Christus in my mind: Jesus Christ with his arms stretched out saying, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." 

(Matt 11:28-30)

In essence, as I reached out to her, I was saying all of these things to my sweet baby. She was tired and needed physical and emotional rest. If she is yoked with me her burden WILL be light because I am bigger, stronger, more emotionally stable, and know more than her.

As a mother I keep having experiences like these that humble me and make me realize how I am a little baby in God's eyes. I need Him like my baby needs me. He is bigger, stronger, more emotionally stable, and knows a whole lot more than me. I am grateful to be a mother. I feel like God is confirming eternal truths to me that I previously knew in my mind, but now know in my heart. 

Happy... what day is it again?

Grateful for the Rain

Last night we had Family Home Evening. Yay for us!! We've been trying to make it more of a priority, even if we just have a prayer, sing a hymn, and read part of a conference talk, which is precisely what we did last night.

We read from Elder Uchtdorf's talk entitled, "Grateful in any Circumstance." We read this section which touched both of us:

We sometimes think that being grateful is what we do after our problems are solved, but how terribly shortsighted that is. How much of life do we miss by waiting to see the rainbow before thanking God that there is rain?


                                      


This is such a good reminder to me to be grateful no matter what is happening in my life.

As I thought about this quote and about rain I thought of this:

Rain is awesome. It provides water necessary for plants to survive, and drinking water for us. It's also beautiful and fun to play in. BUT if you were outside in the storm with no shelter it would be miserable!! You would get wet and cold, and if you were outside long enough it could even be fatal.

Jesus Christ is our spiritual refuge from the storm. He is the one that makes it possible for us to be "grateful in any circumstance." 

It reminds me of this scripture in Helaman 5:12:

And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

I have a testimony that Christ is my refuge from the storm. He makes it possible for me to smile when I feel like crying, because I have an eternal perspective that I would not otherwise have. I am grateful for President Uchtdorf's reminders, and I will try to be grateful more often.