Woman Of Strength

This post has been a few weeks in the making and was suppose to be posted on mother's day but sometimes life throws a wrench in the works and ya just gotta roll with it so this is about a week late but I wanted to make sure I got it perfect.

I would like to take a moment to honor my mom. She is an amazing woman! She has so much faith, love, patience, and strength. I have always looked up to her. She is my role model. She inspires me and drives me to be better. My mom is my cheerleader and has taught me that I can do hard things; when I fall short she is right there to pick me up and help me move on. She is the driving force behind everything I do and everything I want to accomplish. Now if you ask my mom she will tell you that she has made more mistakes than she can count with her children, but I am here to say that is wrong; she is not perfect, but she never gives up, and it is through her example that her children have the courage and strength to fix the mistakes they have made and keep moving forward. Let me share with you some of my favorite memories of mom and lessons she has taught me.

One of my earliest memories of my mom is from my early childhood. My mom was a super busy lady and was always running errands so naturally this memory involves being "trapped" in the car. My mom always had the radio on. Now most times it was because she loves music and loves to sing but at others times i'm sure it was to drown out the yelling coming from the back seat about "Marcus is touching me" or "Daniel is breathing on me". What I remember the most from those days though was listening to her sing along to the radio, it was mostly country music, I loved to hear her sing the catchy lyrics and was dumb-founded at her ability to pick up the tune of songs that were new. As I got older I joined in and my love for country music and singing was sparked. Singing with my mom is something that I still enjoy, and a talent I am so grateful she has shared with me and helped me develop. She has always encouraged me to develop my musical talents and has been the one to remind me not to listen to my brothers when they have told me I sounded like a dying animal.

Some of my favorite memories of my mom come from my years of dancing. If you ask my mom she will tell you I was dancing and singing before I could walk and talk, so naturally she let me take dance lessons. My mom put up with a lot while I danced. She took me to all my practices, listened to me complain about not wanting to do it any more and then would encourage me to stick with it a little longer. She helped me with all my costumes, hair, and make-up, and I could always count on her to be proud even when I was a few counts behind, which happened frequently when I was younger. She always encouraged me to go for it. One particular memory I have was the end of freshman year and try-outs for the high school ballroom dance team were coming up. My brother Daniel had made the team the year before and I was taking lessons from a private company so I decided to try-out. I was so nervous the day of try-outs, I didn't have the same build as the other girls and there were so many people there. Before I walked into the school my mom handed me a card, and gave me a hung and kiss. I walked in to the gym, sat on the floor and opened the card. The card was hot pink with a bright yellow smiley face on it and inside was a simple message of encouragement. I put the card in my bag, put on my shoes and danced my heart out. A few days later when the results were posted my name was not on the list. I was so heart broken, but my mom was there to pick up the pieces and remind me that I still had my company to dance with and that I could try again the next year. This is something she has done for me on countless occasions. She has always supported me in pursuit  of my dreams and at every audition, interview, or whatever it may be I can always hear her telling me to give it my all.

My mom has taught me a lot through out my life. She is the reason I can cook things other than mac and cheese and pancakes. She taught my how to read, sing, write, do laundry, clean, cook, pray, write a talk, you name it she probably taught it to me. The lessons I remember the most however are in service, and faith. For those who know my mom you know that she has a hard time saying no to others especially when they are in serious need. She is always so willing to go the extra mile to help others, she sacrifices everything for her family and would do anything to protect them. There is not a service project she will not do, a missionary or new mom she will not feed, or assignment she will not fulfill. Her faith has also taught me so much. It is because of my mom's faith that I am where I am today. Let me explain.

My mom has faced a lot of trials in her life and has always said the thing that gets here through the rough times is her faith in her Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ. When she has a big decision to make she has always put thoughtful and faithful prayer into it and my family has seen countless blessings come from that. When I was in young women's I looked forward to girls camp and that letter from my mom with her testimony contained in it. She shared her testimony with me countless times through her words, but more often through her actions. Her testimony is what I learned to lean on when I was younger and when I feel that mine was not strong enough. Her faith is also what got me through one of the roughest stages of my life thus far. Two years ago I was struggling with who I was and what I was suppose to be doing. I decided instead of clinging to the truths my parents had taught me that I would make my own way. This decision got me in a lot of trouble. I was hanging out with people who encouraged me to not live my standards, and their opinion of me became more important to me than my family and the gospel. I know it was hard for my mom to watch me struggle, fall, and deteriorate, but she knew the only way to help me was to let me decide for myself to change. I know she spent a lot of time praying for me to find what I was looking for and she never forced or pushed me in the direction she wanted me to go she just made sure I knew she loved me and there was another option for me. It is because of her unconditional love and prayers for me, and her open invitation the lean on her faith and testimony till I could find my own again that I have a now unshakable testimony of Jesus Christ and His atonement and of the truthfulness of the principle and doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Mom I love you more than words can express! You are my rock and I cannot imagine life without you. You have done so much for me and  the rest of the family. I know I don't say it enough but you truly mean the world to me and I love you! You remind me to look for the light at the end of the tunnel and put my trust in the Lord. You are the greatest example to me. I know you feel like you fall short but trust me when I tell you that you are the strength that holds everyone in our family together you fill in the gaps that we have and you hold tight to us. I hope one day to be as great an example to my own children as you have been to me. I love you mom!