I've wanted to write this for a long time.
I'll be honest: Sometimes I am terribly, terribly frightened by all that is ugly out there in the world.
Mostly for my children.
I want so badly for them to make wise decisions. I want them to avoid all of Satan's wiles. I worry about pornography and drugs and the general onslaught of filth that is dished up daily to us through the media -- on the television, in movies, on the radio.
Sometimes I feel like it is impossible to avoid and I wonder how. Because I want my little ones to have happy, successful lives. I want virtue to be the crown jewel they prize. I want my daughter to know how breathtakingly beautiful she is, and to know that implants or fake lashes or any amount of expensive clothing will never never ever make her more beautiful. And I want her to understand that she doesn't need that stuff to make her beautiful. She already is. She is a daughter of God. She has a beautiful, thriving spark within her that I sense and adore, that already leaves me in awe of what she IS. Because I feel her. I feel her spirit.
And I want my boys to know how much honesty and integrity and virtue enhances them. How many gifts they have. What it is like as a mother or father to watch your children and know of their capabilities and to sit and dream. How I watch their sensitivities and listen to their conversations and comments and think about how lucky they will make a girl someday.
I worry, just as I am sure every mother worries. I've been thinking for a long time now about the women I have met through blogging. And I've wanted to thank you. I have been touched by your words and examples. There have been times I've been out running and found myself thinking about something I read on one of your blogs -- something that touched me from one of you that I know, or from women I have never met. I've thought about how crazy it is, in a way, to feel connected to you, all of us -- from all different locations. I've felt inspired by what you share, by the beauty in your lives, by your honesty and determination. And when I worry about all that lies with the hope to strike and deceive, I feel encouraged. Not only because I believe that these little people are equipped with help from heaven to fight it, but also because of YOU. I know you feel the same way about your children and that you are concerned too. And because I know of the goodness in you, it lifts me. Yeah, we aren't perfect, and we don't all do things the same way or have the same opinions on everything. But I don't really think that matters. I know you are good because I feel it when I read what you say or when I get lucky enough to actually spend time with you, together in the flesh. The beauty is palpable.
Thank you for the blessings you bring to my life, for the inspiration and motivation you give me to recognize what is truly important. Thank you for your joy in this work of mothering that is given to women -- in whatever capacity it is given each of us to mother. Whether we have children or not, mothering is our divine gift -- to nurture. As sisters and aunts, wives and granddaughters, mothers and daughters, sisters in the flesh or through the heart, as friends. And I feel that from all of you.
I think of you in my day to day and feel grateful for your influence in my life.
And, as a p.s., I wanted to offer two links. One from a talk I just recently re-listened to that was so inspiring to me from this last general conference. I really prefer to listen to it, and if you want to do that, click here.
And the other is a link to a new video with Nienie.
Both beautiful.
Both inspiring.
Leaving me with buckets-full of conviction and joy and purpose.
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