3 Things God Needs Mothers to Know
by Rebecca Hale
Recently, I had one of those moments. A moment where I questioned my abilities as a mother, and I know I’m not the only one who has these times of doubt. From this experience, I learned a powerful lesson about how Heavenly Father must feel about his daughters. I was making a late dinner and my toddler was not pleased. To satisfy the angry toddler, my husband offered to take him outside to play while I made dinner. Shortly after they left, tragedy struck. As I was rushing around making dinner, I knocked a glass lid off the counter. Tiny shards of glass projected everywhere as the lid collided with the tile floor. I just stood there in shock as I recovered from the overwhelmingly loud noise and the reality of what had just happened. I was surrounded by shards of glass. Somehow, I remained totally unscathed, but what really shook me up was seeing the glass in my son’s highchair, where he had been sitting only minutes earlier. Nine months pregnant with my second child and dealing with wild pregnancy hormones, I was overwhelmed with emotions and guilt.
How badly would my son have been hurt if he was still in the highchair? How was I going to keep two kids alive when I made such stupid mistakes? Then, for probably the millionth time since I became a mom, I wondered if I was cut out for motherhood. Through all the negative thoughts clouding my brain, a clear thought came to me. Just be grateful that you and your son weren’t hurt and move on. Do you think that was really a coincidence? I knew that this was the Spirit testifying to me of Heavenly Father and His involvement in my life. As I cleaned the kitchen, now full of gratitude, I thought about how Heavenly Father must feel about mothers and these were a few of the thoughts I had.
1. Heavenly Father watches out for mothers
Heavenly Father knows our good intentions, but He also knows that as mortals we are prone to make mistakes. He was watching out for me and my son by sparing us from injury. We don’t have to be perfect mothers to ensure raising safe and healthy kids. We are giving life to, loving, and raising Heavenly Father’s children, which are all essential to His plan. Motherhood is such a sacred calling, it only makes sense that we wouldn’t have to do it alone. While trials will continue to come to righteous mothers, we can trust that Heavenly Father is aware of and sustaining us in our efforts.
2. He trusts us
I don’t always trust myself as a mother. I am overly critical and second guess myself all the time, and I’m sure that I’m not alone in this. I have often wondered how a celestial being could have trusted me to raise His beloved children. Those spirits have been placed in our care, which proves that God trusts us to take care of His sons and daughters and to teach them eternal truths. The many mistakes I have made haven’t diminished my Father’s trust in me. I know my Heavenly Father through experiencing His unconditional love and guidance throughout my life. To say that Heavenly Father was disgusted with my mortal shortcomings and no longer trusted me to be a mother is out of character with the loving father I have come to know. He has seen each of us at our very worst, and still chooses to love us. Making mistakes while trying to live up to our callings as mothers is not enough to cause Him to lose trust in us. Only about a week after the incident, He allowed me to be her mortal mother of one of His precious daughters. As I snuggled that baby straight from Heaven, my heart was full of so much peace and gratitude for the gift of motherhood. If something as inconsequential as breaking a lid was enough to make me unworthy, how would I have been able to feel such pure joy? If the creator of Heaven and Earth trusts us enough with His children, then we need to trust in ourselves and in our abilities to be the mothers those children need.
3. He knows our potential
As women, we have the potential to become like our Heavenly Mother. While we may not talk much about Her in the Church, we can learn about Her from what we know about womanhood, the Plan of Salvation, and our Heavenly Father. We can assume that Heavenly Mother was once a mortal mother, and like Her we can achieve godhood and be co-creators of worlds with our husbands. As Her daughters, we have been created in Her image and have
inherited Her divinely feminine attributes and her abilities to create and sustain life. I’m sure that Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother are watching us lovingly as we learn about our roles as women and mothers, slowly becoming the women He knows we can become.
Next time you begin to doubt yourself, I hope you can remember these important truths about your identity as a mother and a daughter of God and that it gives you the strength to keep moving forward.
