Daughter, be of good comfort

(Me in 1994 with nephew Layton)

"Motherhood is more than bearing children.  

It is the essence of who we are as women."

-Sheri L. Dew

When we celebrate mother we celebrate woman, and I believe that

motherhood is a gift and honor given to us from God.

Motherhood defines me, because it is me and is who I 

will be forever.

(Claire with Umi 2001)

I am grateful for my own wonderful mother who 

instilled the love of motherhood in my heart.

I am grateful for a mother-in-law who is a beautiful example of compassion.

I am grateful to be a mother and I love raising and rearing wonderful 

children who love God and want to have families of their own one day. 

I am grateful for three beautiful daughters who will one day become

 mothers and queens of their own homes.

I am grateful for a husband who loves me unconditionally,

who gives me wings to fly, and
who shares the joy and burdens of family life together.  

Without him, I could not be the mother I am.

And, I am grateful for God who has crowned motherhood 

 as one of the most wonderful roles a woman can embrace and receive.  

Motherhood is a calling that has stretched, pushed, taught, 

and molded me into the woman I am today--into a woman of light and beauty.

"Rely on Him.  Rely on Him heavily.  Rely on Him forever.

You are doing God's work.  You are doing it wonderfully well.

He is blessing you and He will bless you,

 even--no, especially--when your days and your nights

may be the most challenging.  Like the woman who anonymously, meekly,

perhaps even with hesitation and some embarrassment, fought her

way through the crown just to touch the hem of the Master's garment, so Christ

will say to the women who worry and wonder and sometimes weep over

their responsibility as mother, "Daughter, be of good comfort; 
thy faith hath made thee whole."

Spiritual Enlightenment:  "Because She Is a Mother"