Motherhood is a great responsibility. As a kid, I thought, “Motherhood. A piece of cake.” Oh yeah, my perspective has changed since becoming a mother. *You’re laughing, I’m sure. Me too!* I’m grateful for great examples of amazing mothers, because without them, I don’t know where I’d be! … Probably a mess, trying to figure it out!
I think of my mom and I am filled with joy. She radiates goodness. She is one of the most hard-working people I know. She is caring, patient and loving. She exudes talent – she is brilliant with sewing, journaling, teaching, entrepreneurial everything, family history/genealogy, and crafting. I am grateful for my mom. I am grateful for the love she has for my dad and all 6 of us kids (and all the grandkids too). 
I strive to be like her. My mom speaks often about her amazing heritage. She talks of her mom and her grandmothers with great love and honor. I know she had beautiful examples of motherhood from those she holds near and dear. It is evident. What a blessing for her … and for me!
Alongside my mother, I look to many others for their great examples of motherhood – my mother-in-laws, my sister-in-laws, aunts, good friends, etc. But the ones I look to most would be my three sisters. Each one of them possess qualities of amazing mothers. Each of my sisters have had different challenges, experiences, and findings as they have trekked through motherhood. For me, it has been beautiful, as I have learned from and grown because each of their examples. I have much love, respect and gratitude for each of them!
My oldest sister, Kristin, is strong, smart, and loving. When I look at Kristin, the words that stands out the most are: PERSEVERE and LOVE! She has faced challenges, head on, that I don’t know I could ever get through had I been in her shoes. 
What I love about Kristin, and a testament to me of the responsibility of being a mother, is that though it all, her driving force to keep going has been her role as a mother and her love for her children. When you talk to her, you can feel the immense gratitude and love she has for her kids. Her love for them is so deep. It’s beautiful to see her relationship with them and her children’s love and respect for their mom. Her children are smart, caring, service-oriented, talented and hard-working. Not only has Kristin persevered, but she is more radiant because of it! I know Kristin’s role as mother has been a shining force behind it all. Her example makes me want to be a better mother.
In our younger years, my younger sister, Julie, and I were always thought to be twins. I loved having a twin! (She was definitely the cuter half, for sure!) As she married and started her own family, it has been beautiful to see Julie in her role as a mother. I think of Julie and I think: BIG HEART and LOVE! In society these days, we often see our “big (and soft) heart” get in the way of discipline and structure. I am grateful for Julie’s example that one can have big heart AND maintain the balance of discipline, structure and a fullness of love. Julie has homeschooled her children, taken care of her aging in-laws, participated in church and community projects along side her family. As a result, her children are smart, respectful, loving, helpful, hard workers and always have big smiles. I can see when I go in their home that “Love is spoken here”. I know that Julie is behind it all! I want to be a better mother, because of what I see and feel in Julie’s home. And for that, I’ll take being her twin, any day!
My youngest sister, Sarah, is nothing short of amazing. I have seen the challenges that she has faced as a mother and the fight and drive to make JOY and LOVE the underlying and overriding factor in her home. You know success when you see the young people say and do the things they have seen their parents say and do. 
I see that in Sarah’s family. You see her children remember to pray, to serve and be kind to family, learning to accept the consequences for their actions – which ever way they stand, and share their love for their parents. These wouldn’t happen without the example Sarah has given to them. She is a stalwart mother. I want to be a better mother, because of the kind of mother Sarah is.
I’m grateful for these mothers in my life – looking to them has made it easier … because being a mother is hard work. Each of us have different lives, work responsibilities are different, our children have different personalities, challenges and abilities. We have all been exposed to different examples of motherhood. The philosophies of ‘how to mother’ are as numerous as there are mothers. But if there is one thing, well, make that two things we all have in common, it would be: We want to be a good mom. We want the best for our children.
I don’t know all the answers of how to be a great mother. But I keep trying – I get up every day and strive to be a better mom than I was the day before. Although I don’t have all the answers, I can say for sure that two things have shown tried and true for me: PRAYER and LOVE. Sometimes I wonder how to keep going – and the peace, the love, the support, the answers, the drive have come only through getting on my knees. I am grateful for prayer in my life as a mother. I have also learned that when love comes first, I am more patient, I am reminded of my children’s potential and why they were placed in my care, I see I can persevere, I feel the joy, and the love is stronger – for my kids and for my responsibility and opportunity to be a mother.
The world we live in has become more challenging – fluctuating values, responsibilities, expectations, and even the status of parenthood/motherhood. Our challenge as mothers is a great load and responsiblity. But God has given us this responsibility, and He knows we can do it … and that is a great honor and a great comfort!
One last thing that tugs at my heart and I want to share. There are several women in my life, growing up and also since starting my own family, who I (and my family) have been very blessed to know. These women have made an impact on me throughout my life and as a mother. Some of these women have not had the opportunity to have children of their own. But I am grateful that that didn’t waiver their decision to help me, guide me, and walk beside me, cheering me on along the way. I am grateful that whether or not they had children of their own, they still loved me, my children, my family and have planted hope and love in our path. These women, all of them, have made a lasting impact on my life. And I am grateful!
“Mother!” Need I say more. My sincerest *MWAH* to all the mothers (of any kind) out there! THANK YOU!
Question: How has your mother (or other women) made an impact on your life? Share your thoughts in the comment section below, or on Facebook (and be sure to tag them!).
We’ve already called 911. Who is in the car?” My daughter responded, “Me and my dad”. Merri heard my daughter and recognized her voice and said, “Oh my goodness! It’s me, Merri!” What a beautiful blessing and miracle to have Merri, an incredible paramedic, a dear friend and my daughter’s Young Women’s leader, there at the scene to assist them in this catastrophic accident, just moments after it all happened. Still buckled in, upside down, my daughter told Ryan that Merri was there and she was going to help them. Once they were in a secure position, Merri pushed their seatbelt buttons and they fell to 
the ground. Then they crawled out through the back of the car. They were, indeed, protected and I am so grateful to the Lord for preserving their lives!
when she got there but really felt there were a couple more she wanted to do. So she was using my husbands iPad to find the names as they were driving. It took her a little while but she finally found two of them and felt those were what she needed. She put the iPad down on the middle console. Then she grabbed her scriptures and began reading in 
knows us. He loves us. He will bless us. As my daughter shared this experience with another dear friend of ours, Toni, said, “I’m sure those family members, who you were searching for while traveling in the car and those you had found earlier in the week, were there protecting you and your dad. They needed you to finish their work.” When she said that, I could feel such power and peace come over me.
love, Ryan Layton. I am so grateful for the blessing of being married for time and all eternity to the man I have grown to really love, appreciate and admire. We were married and sealed in the Las Vegas LDS Temple on April 14, 2000.
blooming all over and pretty white fluffy clouds in the blue sky. That was the day for me! … And then I grew up and realized that April 15th wasn’t the funnest of days, for this was the day your taxes would be due and blah for that. Ha. But I still wanted April and I realized a prettier looking day would be April 14th. Just the numbers rang beautiful to me! The year 2000 was the year I really wanted to be married! I wanted a number that was easy to remember how many years I was married, every year. I didn’t want to have to subtract, add, borrow, discuss, figure out, look at journals or anything else 
to figure out how many years it had been. So the day I wanted to marry was April 14, 2000! 😀
I lived in Vegas. Several months later, I received an email from him. His company had decided to relocate to LV and that very weekend he would be in town to check out apartments. Drats! That weekend was New Years Eve and I already had plans to go to an old high school friend’s home for a little party. All of my friends would be there. So Ryan and I agreed to visit the next day, if we could work out our schedules.
Ryan! WHAT??? Why, how, HUH?? He was there in MY friend’s kitchen! As we exchanged the “Huh? How do you know Lauren?”‘s, we soon learned that Lauren was my friend AND Ryan’s cousin!!! What a small world! Needless to say, Ryan and I hung out all weekend! Looking back, I remember Lauren, in high school, telling me about her Deaf cousin who was at Gallaudet University. How cool I thought that was, but I was a sophomore in high school! … And that meant he was old! Ha.
February 14, 2000: Valentines Day, lunchtime. I stood on the exit corner of the parking lot where Ryan worked. I was with a very loving and trusting friend, Angela Darling, who kept rooting me on (from her car), to be brave! Dressed up as a homeless girl, I held a sign. My sign read, “Will work for love” … or something like that! It was corny and I loved being corny, especially for something that was worthy of it! And to me, he was all that! He and his working buddies went out for lunch that day. As they were leaving the parking lot, I could see him trying to figure out what was in front of him. It took him a minute to realize that that was me holding the sign. I think he was in utter shock! Haha. … (He didn’t leave me standing there! So I guess it worked!) 🙂
April 14, 2000: My mother and Aunt had stayed up all night to finish sewing my bridesmaid dresses and pressing my wedding gown. My mother was/is amazing! … It was a beautiful spring day! The flowers were in full bloom. The white clouds were in the beautiful blue skies (kind of all over – not so fluffy, but no matter). It was the day of my dreams. Of course, there were hiccups. The photographer arrived over an hour late, my bouquet and flowers never showed up (until the reception much later) and 
the beautiful glass blown cake top never came home with us. But the day was perfect anyhow!
and we loved more. 15 years later, and I am so grateful for the experiences we have gone through. I love him more than I ever imagined I could or would. He is a handsome, strong, patient, loving, forgiving, happy, talented, and all-around, in-and-out amazing man, son, father and husband! Sealed to him for eternity is a blessing. A blessing I am so grateful we held on to (and continue to hold on to and work for)! Happy Anniversary, my love! Here’s to the rest of time and all of eternity! *MWAH!*
