Park Days and Womanhood

 Fayetteville lovingly sprinkles 60 degree days all throughout the fall and winter. Yesterday we went to the park and enjoyed it all to ourselves. Then Samantha and her kids arrived and we played together for half an hour. I love my Johnson park! It's close enough to walk to and it's all fenced in. They even have a handicap accessible area for swinging. So neat.

 I'm thankful for each of my children.

 I love mothering them. It is where I find the greatest fulfillment in my life.

 When we understand the magnitude of motherhood, it becomes clear why prophets have been so protective of woman’s most sacred role. While we tend to equate motherhood solely with maternity, in the Lord’s language, the word mother has layers of meaning. Of all the words they could have chosen to define her role and her essence, both God the Father and Adam called Eve “the mother of all living”  —and they did so before she ever bore a child. Like Eve, our motherhood began before we were born. Just as worthy men were foreordained to hold the priesthood in mortality,  righteous women were endowed premortally with the privilege of motherhood. Motherhood is more than bearing children, though it is certainly that. It is the essence of who we are as women. It defines our very identity, our divine stature and nature, and the unique traits our Father gave us.

 -Sheri L. Dew