“Losing my temper: Utah’s Young Mother of the Year confesses all”

Editor’s note: I never did get the additional motherhood posts posted around Mother’s Day; I often bite off more than I can chew when it comes to all the ideas I have for what to post. So when I saw this essay from my friend, I figured I had a chance to redeem myself, maybe a little. I love my friend’s honesty. I, too, struggled with my temper when my kiddos were small, and I, too, have found that God has helped me become better. It gives me hope as I struggle against other weaknesses that are part of this mortal condition.

“Losing my temper: Utah’s Young Mother of the Year confesses all” was written by a friend of mine whom I admire a great deal. I appreciate how real she is, and the testimony that God can help us with our weakness when we ask for His help. It won’t always come immediately (after all, we are here to learn and progress and grow line upon line), but He does care about our desires to be better.

I’m reminded of a talk on motherhood by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.

The work of a mother is hard, too often unheralded work. Please know that it is worth it then, now, and forever.

One young mother wrote to me recently that she felt like the world expected her to teach her children reading, writing, interior design, Latin, calculus, and the Internet—all before the baby said something terribly ordinary, like “goo goo.” She worried because she felt she didn’t measure up or somehow wasn’t going to be able to be equal to the task, the mental investment, the spiritual and emotional exertion, the long-night, long-day, stretched-to-the-limit demands that sometimes are required in trying to be and wanting to be the mother God hopes she will be.

But one thing, she said, keeps her going. I quote: “Through the thick and the thin of this, and through the occasional tears of it all, I know deep down inside I am doing God’s work. I know that my motherhood is an eternal partnership with Him.”

I truly believe heaven heralds the work of mothers. It is worth it, moms, now and forever. God knew He would send His children to imperfect parents. He will help us and our children as we (and they) turn to Him.