“Mother – Always There “
By Steve and Claudia Goodman
Recently one of our children sang a solo on a choir concert. Afterward no one said much about her performance. She felt she had done an outstanding job, but without feedback, she began to question her ability. The first thing she asked when she got home was, “Mom, what did you think of my solo? How did I do?” She needed reassurance from someone she could trust.
We hear so much about quality time, and it is very important. However, we can’t minimize the critical role of quantity time. How many diapers does a mother change? How frequently does she remind her children to say their prayers? How often does she patiently help them resolve their differences so they can learn to get along? Can she eliminate such routine chores simply because they are not profound, life-changing experiences in and of themselves?
One repetition does not complete a task any more effectively than saying a word once teaches children to talk, or saying a single prayer keeps them close to God. Someone needs to be there consistently to follow through again and again on the small things. Everyone needs someone to laugh with them when life takes unexpected turns, to cry with them over crushing heartaches large and small, to celebrate with them when victory finally comes. No wonder so many count their mothers among their dearest and closest friends. Little things done again and again over the years by someone we can count on bring stability and trust to our lives – and love.
For most of us, mother is a constant in this shifting world – one who is always there – someone we can depend upon. When everything else in our lives is adrift, there is one place we return again and again to get our bearings – home. Mother’s face is usually the first one a baby comes to recognize. Hers is the voice that echoes love, hers the gentle touch that soothes away pain and fear.
The saying, “God couldn’t be everywhere, so He gave us mothers,” generally holds true. It is from our mothers that we learn the magnitude of God’s love – that He will always be there for us. In fact, so powerful and unfailing is a mother’s love that the Lord uses that very comparison to illustrate His love for us. “For can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee, O house of Israel. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands .” (1 Nephi 21:15-16)
Whatever else we acknowledge about our mothers, perhaps one of the most profound attributes is that they are always there for us. This beautiful song written about Joseph Smith illustrates that principle:
I Went Home
It was there in my home that I learned long ago
The lessons that carried me through
All the trials and strife that stood in my path
As from child to man I grew.
It was there in my home that I learned how to play,
How to work and the meaning of love.
I learned from example the power of prayer.
I grew close to my Father above.
I remember the nights with my family so close,
How we laughed, how we sang, how we prayed.
I learned from my family the lessons of life.
And I grew with my mind unafraid.
Then on that clear spring morning
I went to the grove as a youth.
I needed to have an answer.
I went in search of truth.
And after that glorious moment,
When they had talked to me,
I rose from my knees, I ran up the path,
I wanted the world to see
That the lessons I’d learned through those fourteen years
Were not meant for me alone.
I knew what to do, I knew where to go.
I went home, I went home, I went home.
By Ralph G. Rodgers, Jr.
(Based on a talk by Elder Marvin J. Ashton)
Mothers, we salute you for your untiring devotion to us, for the continuing expression of your love. May we forever hold in our memories the reassurance that you are always there.
