For those of you who haven't read it let me give you a brief synopsis. The book centers around a little boy, Milo, and his mother. They disagree on more than a few issues (broccoli, siblings, etc), and for some reason Milo ends up getting sent off to bed early. Milo is angry with his mother as he sits and sulks in his room and then he sees the martians. Martians have come to earth to snatch a mom or two, they need tucking in and driving to soccer too. Milo's mom get snatched, he follows her to the ship and both end up on Mars. Milo's helmet breaks and he breathes in the poisonous Martian air, but just as he is about to... bite the dust, his mother sees him, rips off her own helmet and saves him. She ends up in a bad state, but as this is a children's picture book (that I liked) things turn out in the end, and yes in the end Milo ends up appreciating his mother despite her love of broccoli.
I read the book (and didnt get teary because I am not that kind of person) and thought, "as cheesy as that book was I appreciate that someone, even if it is a random author knows that sometimes moms have rough days, but even despite the tantrums, disagreements, and the scrubbing that comes with the job, moms are willing to do whatever it takes to help their kids. I found this quote on the author's website and loved it "But our kids? I’ll take the bullet in a heartbeat. And I wish my children would appreciate this as they chuck their scrambled eggs at the ceiling.". Let me just tell you, when Michael has thrown his food at me, dumped milk on the floor, screamed instead of napped, and shrieked "NO!" for the millionth time that day, I wish I could make him understand that Mommy loves him.
Along the same lines as this cute book, but more uplifting I saw/heard these quotes from Jeffery R. Holland today,
"I especially wish to praise and encourage young mothers. The work of a mother is hard, too often unheralded work.... But with night feedings and night teethings, often the greatest challenge of all for a young mother is simply fatigue. Through these years, mothers go longer on less sleep and give more to others with less personal renewal for themselves than any other group I know at any other time in life. It is not surprising when the shadows under their eyes sometimes vaguely resemble the state of Rhode Island...Do the best you can through these years, but whatever else you do, cherish that role that is so uniquely yours and for which heaven itself sends angels to watch over you and your little ones.
"May I say to mothers collectively, in the name of the Lord, you are magnificent. You are doing terrifically well. The very fact that you have been given such a responsibility is everlasting evidence of the trust your Father in Heaven has in you. He is blessing you and He will bless you, even—no, especially—when your days and your nights may be the most challenging. Rely on Him. Rely on Him heavily. Rely on Him forever. And “press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope.”
“You are doing God's work. You are doing it wonderfully well. He is blessing you, and He will bless you, --even--no, -especially--when your days and your nights may be most challenging. Like the woman who anonymously, meekly, perhaps even with hesitation and some embarrassment, fought her way through the crowd just to touch the hem of the Master's garment, so Christ will say to the women who worry and wonder and weep over their responsibility as mothers, `Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole.' And it will make your children whole as well.”
So on that note, Happy Tuesday, despite what I may think as I scrub my floor, I am blessed, and life is good.
2 comments:
Amen!
We had the George Albert Smith lesson on parents today and I thought of your blog. They showed the video with Elder Holland giving this talk and had a video of a not so perfect families and it reminded me of times that we had. There are good and bad days; families are rewarding.
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