The Mother's Day Post

Ryan and I thought we'd honor our mothers by finding scriptures that best illustrated their lives and teachings.

Dorrie Sherrill

Psalms 91: 2, 14 &15
I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust
Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.

My mom, while blessed with a multitude of talents and testimony, has had many trials in her life. Through it all, and starting as a little girl, she has always turned to the Lord and stayed close to his Gospel and his Church. She always knew that doing what was right, trusting in Heavenly Father and the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and serving in her ward and stake callings would bring her more peace, wisdom and joy than giving up. She is the truest example to me that, no matter what, the Lord is our refuge and our fortress.

What greater lesson could a mother teach her daughter?

Karen Romney

Proverbs 21:26
but the righteous giveth and spareth not.

My mom is someone who gives all. As I was thinking about her, I kept thinking of a quote from Marjorie Hinckley that says:

"I don’t want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with grass stains on my shoes from mowing Sister Schenk’s lawn. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor’s children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone’s garden. I want to be there with children’s sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived."

I have been blessed to be allowed to closely observe the life of someone who is ever ready to help and serve others. My mother went to bed after midnight and woke up before 5 am almost ever day. When I picture her in my mind, I see her stationed in our family room sitting on the floor folding a pile of laundry more than 3 feet high. She was the kind of mom who read stories to us on the couch as the seven of us kids compressed upon her from all sides. She worked long sandwich assembly lines as she prepared our lunches every morning. Yet, as busy as she was with 7 little hoodlums running rampant, she made time to help the lady who unexpectedly called her with a random request for help or a sympathetic ear. Today I am thankful for her capacity to give and spare not.