Mothers Day

I am so grateful for my 2 mothers.

My mom is an example to me in every way. She is the most spiritual woman I know. I never got away with anything that I did wrong growing up. Somehow, she knew the second I looked her in the eye. There were many, many times in life that I have made a better choice just because I knew that I would have to face her eventually and didn't want to disappoint her. Thanks mom for being so patient and always seeing the best in me and my potential, especially when I didn't see it myself. I hope to be that same kind of mother to my own children.

(My mom with me. I think my mom is so pretty. And you gotta love that hair!)

I also am so very grateful for the mother who raised my dear husband. I do not use the word mother-in-law - she is my mother. I couldn't ask for more kindness and acceptance from her. Despite the fact that I am highly opinionated and at times fairly strong headed, she loves me and has always treated me as her daughter. She is so very talented and raised a son who treats me like a queen. She really is awesome!

(I really love this old picture of her! There aren't a lot of pictures of her before she came from Tonga. This was around the time Hema was born. She is such a beauty!)

Today I am also so grateful for Katie and Chelise and that I get to be a mother myself because of them. They are not just birth mothers - they are the first mothers of my children. They are mothers in every sense of the word and I love them!

I cannot go through a Mother's Day without remembering those many years of pain and longing to be a mother. I pray for all women today. Especially those who wish they were married, or that they had children, or maybe more children, or have lost children or have other heartache in their lives related to this overwhelming desire to nurture and love and fulfill what we as women are here on this earth to do. I love in the Relief Society declaration where is says that we, "Find nobility in motherhood and joy in womanhood." I am so very grateful for the increased understanding I have as a mother because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that each of our hearts can be healed through the gospel.

I am so grateful to be the mother of Hema and Vela. I love them more than I can express in words. I strive to be better each day for them. Even though I am so imperfect - I pray that they will be better than me. They bring me so much joy. I am so blessed and so grateful - yet there is still longing. And I still pray for those sweet children that I hope will one day join my family. That will one day call me mother. I pray that there will be more and that at some point in this life, I will feel like my family is complete. That my heart will be completely full and I will not feel like something is still missing. But for now, I will celebrate what I have. I am a mother. I am so very blessed!