HEARTS OF THE MOTHERS

 

“Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death…..yeah, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.”   (Alma 56:47)

“The reliance, of course, by these young men on their mothers is touching and profound, but the mothers first had to know ‘it’ in such a way that the young men, observing them closely and hearing them (as is always the case with children observing parents), did ‘not doubt’ that their mothers knew that ‘it’ was true.”  (Elder Neal A. Maxwell, That My Family Should Partake, p 59)

There is only one way that a woman can be an example of such staunch faith to her children and that is for her, herself, to be grounded in the firm foundation which is in Christ. Her knowledge and her conviction of His help and deliverance from any adverse situation in life has got to come from experience and her partnership with Christ, and not just from theory. In the most challenging role on earth, we as mothers, should desire and seek this partnership above all else. He is the protection, He is the power, He is the source of all wisdom, knowledge and foresight that our children will invariably need in their lives. We want them to have this and it starts with us and this is how:   

“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’. You are doing God’s work. You are doing it wonderfully well. He is blessing you and He will bless you, even – no, especially – when your days and your nights may be the most challenging. Like the woman who anonymously, meekly, perhaps even with hesitation and some embarrassment, fought her way through the crowd just to touch the hem of the Master’s garment, so Christ will say to the women who worry and wonder and sometimes weep over their responsibility as mothers, ‘Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole’. And it will make your children whole as well.”  (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Because She Is A Mother, April 1997 General Conference).

From the mother’s heart comes the love, the care, the self-sacrifice akin to that of the Saviour’s.  I know not of a mother who would not step in and give her life for that of her child. Not physically nourishing her children is beyond comprehension but feeding her children with ‘the bread of life’ is the next level of accomplishment she will be crowned for forever. The mother whose child recognizes Christ in her has succeeded in her God given role.

Victor Hugo’s 1874 novel “Ninety-Three” explored the counter-revolutionary revolts which occurred during the period of the French Revolution. At the beginning of the book, a group of military men encountered a woman with her baby and her two young children who were starving. The sergeant took some regulation bread from his pocket and gave it to the mother. She broke the bread into two fragments and gave them to her children.

“She has kept none for herself”, grumbled the sergeant.

“Because she is not hungry”, said a soldier.

“Because she is a mother”, said the sergeant. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Farewell My Stripling Warrior by Del Parson)