I haven’t posted anything for more than a month, but I’m finally back! I decided to post my thoughts instead of pictures this time though (Hope you’re not disappointed. Maybe some day I’ll get to those pictures I mentioned). I have felt so overwhelmed lately and I finally decided that blogging was taking too much precious time, so I cut back.
I love being a mom, but when combined with trying to run a household, it can really leave me feeling discouraged and inadequate. It often feels like there is so much to do and when I get one thing done, three more things have been added to the to-do list and the one I just did will make its way back on the list again soon. It seems I am always neglecting something (actually a whole list of things).
However, this post wasn’t meant to be depressing. Last weekend was the annual General Relief Society meeting and I felt that Elder Uchdorf’s talk was exactly what I needed to hear. (For anyone who doesn’t know what I am talking about, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, twice each year we have a worldwide conference where we get to hear from the leaders of our church including apostles and prophets. This particular meeting was for the women.) I love being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and I love these meetings! I know that our leaders are inspired because although I am only one out of millions that are listening to these messages, they always share something that really helps me in my own life.
Let me first mention two previous talks from General Conference that I found so helpful and encouraging. The first is this talk by Elder Ballard about the demanding role of being a mom and how to make it more fulfilling and enjoyable. I realized during this talk that Heavenly Father was aware of my concerns and appreciated my work as a mom. And this talk by Elder Oaks about spending our time on what matters most really helped me work on my priorities. Especially after Annie was born, it reminded me that I can’t possibly do everything and that is okay. If I spend my time on what matters most, then its okay if I don’t get to the other things. Like if I can’t clean the house because Hyrum and Annie are taking all of my time, I shouldn’t feel bad about it, and I certainly shouldn’t get stressed or angry that they are keeping me from less important things. But I need to make sure that I’m not neglecting important things because I’m spending time on things that don’t matter.
However, I was getting quite discouraged again, and Elder Uchdorf’s talk left me feeling so uplifted and encouraged! He helped me to realize that being a mom is about so much more than trying to keep things from falling apart and following a to-do list. It is about creating something beautiful, from my home to my own life to the countless ways that I influence my children. And that taking the time to create something beautiful (like a piece of art, a smile on my child’s face or, yes, even a clean house) is not only okay, it is a huge part of why we are here, to leave this world and the people in it more beautiful than we found them. Somehow thinking this way makes a huge difference for me.
If you’re feeling discouraged, I highly recommend these talks! Hopefully someone will find this post helpful!
