As we have a tendency in the church to give tribute to our mothers on Mother's Day, here's a thread for you to post your own personal thoughts about your mom. Hopefully we can even say something nice about her (unlike what I've experienced in "other" forums in which the only response you get is a bunch of (no doubt well deserved) diatribes about emotional abuse from a less than perfect woman who shall never in this lifetime be forgiven for giving birth to you...
How about this mother's day if you've got issues with being a mother, you let it go, as both a present to yourself and to her?
Whaddya say? Am I a big insensitive lout? You betchya!
What nice things can you say about your mom?
What memories really stick out in your mind about the times you spent together?
Are you offended by Mother's Day, as it's celebrated in the church?
Time to open those old wounds...
--Ray
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I'm not slow; I'm special. (Don't take it personally, everyone finds me offensive. Yet somehow I manage to live with myself.)
I hate the little plant they give us. There. I said it.
On Father's Day, the men get homemade cookies/brownies/cupcakes from the YW. Yeah.
One memory of my mom is when we'd go to Northgate shopping mall in Seattle and she's always ask me to pray for a good parking spot. (Good= within 6 spots of the Nordstrom entrance) I was around 4-5-6 years old. One time it finally hit me that my spiritual powers were being used for not so noble purposes, and I didn't pray in my head, just sat in the front seat of the Plymouth Fury III, silent. As we drove down the first aisle and nothing was to be found, we rounded the corner and she looked at me incredulously and said, "You didn't pray, did you?!?" I looked up sheepishly and said, "No." She sighed and pursed her lips, obviously not amused. Yes, it's funny. My mom is very... uh... unique. But at the same time she taught me to have faith in my prayers. She always had complete faith in them.
Another memory was when she came horse-back riding with my dad and I. I was about 9 or 10. This was the "thing" for me and Dad, but we bought her a horse to try to include her. I remember her galloping up this long hill one time, one hand on the reins, the other forearm under her chest for support and "whoo" -ing all the way up the hill. I laughed so hard I pee'd my pants.
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Life is tough but it's tougher if you're stupid. -John Wayne
I have "issues" with Mother's Day, and I ditched church this morning because of it. Sometimes - not always - what I hear that day is "You were insufficient!"
Not from my darling sons, do I hear this. All four of them called - one of them, in his thirties and with a sore throat - sang "Mother I Love You" to me, and I've learned to look forward to the primary songs he sings to me on Mother's Day because he always does it. I like the presents and the kind sentiments and their extra effort and the flowers -- all nice.
But the sacrament meeting eulogies to the Perfect Mother can really bring me low. You would think by my age I would be past that, but there it is. This morning I told my son Adam that I hated this insufficiency, and he replied that we're all insufficient, that's why we need Christ. An excellent reminder.
Today I made a couple of resolutions. One, we need something to help us overcome whatever hurts exist between us and our mothers. I had a wonderful mother, with a couple of failings, and it's good to remember to be grateful for the good stuff and forgive the rest. Two, if I call this day and the matching one in June "Family Feast Day" - even just to myself, I can let go of some of the old owies from sacrament meetings long forgotten by everyone else.
Since my mom passed away and my dad remarried, I usually try to use Mother's day to make my step mom feel better. She was never able to have children and was an only child, so she kind of got an instant family when she married my dad. Mother's days have always been hard for her, but I think it has been helpful for her.
Several years ago I gave a talk on Mother's day. That seems to be a difficult task given the diverse group of women, mothers, childless women, women with children that have died, older women with children no longer at home, unmarried women, etc. I really prayed hard about that talk and preparing it. I think the inspiration was strong for that talk, the best I have given, and the credit is God's. My step mom came up and thanked me with tears and said for the first time she had felt comfortable and not left out in sacrament on that day. About 20 other women came and thanked me. Sure made me feel good.
I do miss my mom, she really looked out for me and encouraged me. She only got to see one of the grand children, she sure liked him.
I miss my grandma, she passed away several years ago. She was fun, my brother and I were what she lived for, that is until the great-grand kids came along and she would boot us out the door when coming to visit. They would give us money to go out and eat "because they were being nice." Really, they were just paying us to see the kids!
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Lo, there I see my mother, my sisters, my brothers Lo, there I see the line of my people back to the beginning Lo, they call to me, they bid me take my place among them In the halls of Valhalla, where the brave may live...forever
The only tribute I give my Mom, because she like most women have "issues" with Mother's Day, is the last public tribute I gave her at Church while she was still alive...
That though I am far from being a stripling warrior, I can say as they did, that I do not doubt that my mother knows that if I trust in God, he will deliver me.
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It seems to me the only thing you've learned is that Caesar is a "salad dressing dude."
The first talk was a recap of the Fathers/Sons campout - slash - service project because no one will show up to service projects unless you combine them with Fathers/Sons or something else... Second talk was about the contributionssignificance of Adam and Christ by the brainiest guy in the ward. Yea! Didn't mention mothers, really.
In Primary, a guy got up to give a thought and told about how when he was young he'd beat up on his sister. One time he punched her in the stomach and his mom told him that if he did that, she wouldn't be able to have babies. He listened to her because she was a wise mother. I thought, this is weird. Then the PP got up and thanked him for his "wise words" and I thought, this is reeeealy weird. I thought the kids might have thought so, too. ??? Whatever.
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Life is tough but it's tougher if you're stupid. -John Wayne
We had a youth speaker talk about the Stripling Warriors and their moms.
Then we had a sister talk, she did a great job, she talked about her mom, and she's a very likeable person that's very shy, and doesn't normally talk in church, so I think most people were just excited to hear a little about her upbringing.
Then we had a brother who is a convert to the church talk about his mom and growing up locally, and he too is very shy and doesn't like public speaking AT ALL. I felt like it was a miracle that he was even up there, and everyone seemed to be really supportive of him, because he's really trying hard to live up to the challenge of being a member in the church.
He spoke most positively about the simple things his mom did for him and his family. None of it really focused on the Gospel, as his mom never joined the church. She just did things like had dinner with the family, and fed all the neighborhood friends that came--and put her foot down when dad decided to blow up too many things for the fourth of July.
I really thought the spirit of our meeting was positive, because it wasn't about Molly mormon, it was about the simple day to day things mom does, and not that heavy on the doctrinal implications of motherhood.
Then again I've never understood the female tendency to make themselves feel crappy about spiritual things.
--Ray
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I'm not slow; I'm special. (Don't take it personally, everyone finds me offensive. Yet somehow I manage to live with myself.)
