Mother’s Day Ministering Printable – Mothers Are Magnificent
When coming up with a Mother’s Day ministering printable for this year, I thought this quote by Elder Holland was perfect. After the year we have had, I figured mothers needed all the celestial back patting they could get.
“May I say to mothers collectively, in the name of the Lord, you are magnificent. You are doing terrifically well. The very fact that you have been given such a responsibility is everlasting evidence of the trust your Father in Heaven has in you. He is blessing you and He will bless you, even—no, especially—when your days and your nights may be the most challenging. Rely on Him. Rely on Him heavily. Rely on Him forever. And “press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope.”
“Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God,”
Elder Jeffery R. Holland
Download Mother’s Day Ministering Printable (4×6) (Four to a Sheet PDF)
I decided to pair it with a bottle of Bath & Body Works soap to give to the sisters in the ward who my husband and I minister to. I fell in love with this vintage art print of a mother bird watching over her nest.
Magnificent Mothers
The past year has been challenging for me. When people complained about being bored during quarantine I kind of wanted to punch them. I have never been busier. I was drowning.
You may have noticed that the frequency of my blog posts went way down. Something had to give and the blog was one of the first things to go. Then I also dropped some work clients. I had my hands full trying to manage virtual learning. Neither of my kids are good matches for virtual learning and it is challenging. All the supports I used to rely on were gone.
So when I read the words “He is blessing you and He will bless you, even—no, especially—when your days and your nights may be the most challenging,” I started to bawl. It was just what I needed to hear.
Elder Holland has a gift for saying what needs to be said in exactly the way it needs to be said. The quote on the printable is from his talk “Because She Is a Mother” given during the April 1997 General Conference. You should read it. The whole talk is beautiful.
Patricia T. Holland – One of My Mothering Heroes
But as this is Mother’s Day, I think it is only appropriate to mention that Patricia T. Holland, Elder Holland’s wife, is my hero. If you can be a fan girl of an apostle’s wife, then I am probably one. I would love to meet her. She is a spiritual powerhouse. I love reading and hearing about her gospel insights and experiences.
Recently Sister and Elder Holland did a video for the RootsTeach Conference. In the video, they went back and visited their roots in St. George, UT. We got to see them with their children and listen to their memories. I was particularly touched by some of the experiences their children shared about their mother. She is an insightful, deliberate, and faithful mother. She is a magnificent mother.
Women Anchored in Christ
Sister Holland also wrote one of my favorite gospel articles of all time – “One Thing Needful: Becoming Women of Greater Faith in Christ.” It is one of the clearest and enlightening articles on womanhood that I have read. She also shares an analogy of the soul that has helped me as I struggle to come closer to the Lord.
I can’t do justice to her whole article, but wanted to share one of my favorite parts.
“We must have the courage to be imperfect while striving for perfection. … We can become so sidetracked in our compulsive search for identity and self-esteem that we really believe it can be found in having perfect figures or academic degrees or professional status or even absolute motherly success. Yet, in so searching externally, we can be torn from our true internal, eternal selves.
We often worry so much about pleasing and performing for others that we lose our uniqueness—that full and relaxed acceptance of one’s self as a person of worth and individuality. We become so frightened and insecure that we cannot be generous toward the diversity and individuality, and yes, problems, of our neighbors. Too many women with these anxieties watch helplessly as their lives unravel from the very core that centers and sustains them. Too many are like a ship at sea without sail or rudder, “tossed to and fro,” as the Apostle Paul said (see Eph. 4:14), until more and more of us are genuinely, rail-grabbingly seasick.”
Sure and Steadfast
I love the conflict she presents between “our true internal, eternal selves” and the external markers of success we so often look to. We need to understand that loving and having faith in the Lord is also loving and having faith in ourselves. I believe that one of the ways to become like Christ, is to see ourselves like Christ does. This is how we obtain “that full and relaxed acceptance of one’s self as a person of worth and individuality.” How can we not feel loved and important if we see ourselves with the same love and mercy that Christ sees us with?
Sister Holland’s quote reminds me a lot of one of my favorite scriptures.
“Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.” (Ether 12:4)
If we are constantly doubting or dragging ourselves down, where is our hope? Hope comes through faith in God. It is the faith that allows us hope for a place at His right hand. It is the faith that anchors us in the storms.
Hallmark of Magnificent Mothers
So what is the hallmark of magnificent mothers? Crafting, baking, sewing, perfect hair, and ideal figures do not make a mother magnificent. It is woman who are anchored in the hope that comes from faith in Christ. We are sure and steadfast for our children. We abound in good works because we aren’t being tossed about. We become the steadfast beacons and safe harbors for our children when the world is tossed about by storms. We know who we are and love ourselves like God does. And this love allows us to love and serve those around us.
