Mother's Day...

**Note: Before I start this post.. don't forget that there is a giveaway several posts down. Everyone is welcome.

Secondly, this is a photo of the box I painted for my mom for Mother's Day.. there is also one in the shop if anyone is interested.

I hope you had a wonderful mother's day... guilt free. For some reason, in the places I've lived Mother's Day can become a day of comparison. Do you do that? I do. I look around at all the talented women that I live by and wish that I could have some of the best gifts of every one of them. My neighbor gave a talk at our church the other day. She is a person whose done a lot of research on parenting and she made an interesting point. She said that she had looked at a study that had tried to discover the ideal way to raise successful children and the study found that there was no ideal way, but that many successful (successful here is defined as happy) adults had one thing common... they were loved. What a relief, if we love our children and they really know it, that fact will make up for a lot.

Several years ago I was asked to speak about mothers. Here is a small portion of what I wrote about some of the mother's in my life.

Mothers are different.
In my own family my two Grandmothers could not have been more different.
One graduated with a degree in nursing, had ten children, seven of them boys, was an avid sports fan and a great cook of large portions of good Mormon cooking all the while working outside the home as a labor and delivery nurse by necessity to help support her large family. I never saw her with makeup or any other form of feminine adornments but she always knew the scores of all the games.
My other Grandmother graduated from Utah State with a degree in clothing and textiles. She is the mother of six children 3 girls and 3 boys. I have seen many pictures of her looking glamorous in fancy dresses she made with high heels and red lipstick... think 1940's Christian Dior! She was a homemaker by trade, artistic in every way and a Relief Society president many times over. She is also a great cook of small portions of gourmet food.

Both of my Grandmothers were good mothers. Both of them were faithful Latter Day Saints who served tirelessly in the church and were wonderful examples to their children and Grandchildren. Both of them were missionaries. Both of them shared their love, talents and testimonies with as many people as they could, but especially with their families.

I am so grateful this day for my own dear mother whose gifts and talents are many; who taught me to awe and reverence the creation that our Heavenly Father has made for our happiness. She loves everything that is good and beautiful. I enjoy going on drives with her so that she can point out and name every special tree and flower and bush and so she can remind me not to forget how beautiful our mountains are today with either green grass, autumn leaves or snow. She loves the beauty of every season and celebrates every holiday and occasion with exuberance and real joy. I am so grateful for her quiet faith and her extraordinary acts of service and for her great loyalty and love for her family.

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I think it's a good idea to try to celebrate the differences that make each mother the right mother for the child they have been given by God... even if that mother is you!