Far From Mundane

Many months ago, I was driving in my car with the kids (not talking on the phone this time, funny enough), and we were listening to a CD with primary music. I can still see the rotunda I was rounding in the van, the sky sunny and blue, and the crepe myrtles in the middle with tiny leafs on them. Gabe dropped something on the floor of the van, and being buckled in too tightly to reach it, started screaming at me about it. Really screaming. I wanted to scream right back at him. Dare to Do Right was playing on the CD, and out of the blue, a phrase pierced this weary mother straight through her heart:

Dare to do right! Dare to be true! You have a work that no other can do.

I had a thought course through my mind, more of a realization than a sentence - "Only you can show him patience. Only you can show him calmness, teach him the way to handle a stressful situation. Be strong. Be what you need to be."

That moment, that would normally have me wishing for a pillow to push my face into, suddenly became a sacred moment instead. It wasn't just another moment to endure but one to live.

This was my son and my Heavenly Father had sent to him to me to teach. There was a reason for that. I had talents that were given to me and experiences that had prepared me and shaped me for this work. It was my work, and my work alone, and if I didn't do it, no one else would.

In that moment of personal inspiration, I grasped onto that phrase as a motto of my motherhood. On days when I have left my heart open to the inspiration of my Heavenly Father, days that I have tried hard to focus on my work as a mother, and days that have begun with prayer, that phrase pops into my head just when I need it.

You have a work that no other can do.

Laundry

Holding the needy baby

Answering with kindness

Teaching compassion

Dishes

Setting the tone of the house

Enforcing the rules

Sending the kids to bed

Feeding the kids

Dressing the kids

Praying for the kids

Receiving inspiration for the kids

Breaking up fights

Bringing humor in when it is needed

Soothing hurt feelings

Knowing when to go to the doctor

.......the list goes on and on

It is hard and often frustrating work, but it is my work, and it is noble work.