More than a Mother's Day

I know this will post too late for Mother's Day, but I had to put my thoughts into words as the day has wound down to an end.

Saturday morning, my family was finally able to have my oldest brother David's temple work done. David was baptized, but when our mother and my dad moved away to California, he stayed behind with his dad and became inactive in the church. My brother Doug and his wife Karie came down from Idaho to be there. Ken was there. His wife Katee would have been there if she hadn't been in pain due to kidney stones and an infection. Constance was there. Dayne and I were there. If Brenda still lived here, she would have been there. I'm sure it makes my mom sad to know there's another son out there that cannot go to the temple, but for one day, she had four out of her 7 children together, all in white, completing sacred ordinances for their brother. My brother Ken had Dave's name for the endowment session, and Doug did the sealing ordinance in his name. It was a powerful and emotional sight, watching as my mom knelt before the temple sealer, with Ken's hand in hers acting for our dad, and seeing Doug place his hand on theirs as the sealer said those simple yet binding words that made David an eternal part of our family.

Our family can never be too solemn or reverent about anything, so of course we had to make comments about how the temple organist should have been playing something a little more lively in Dave's honor, like "Jeremiah was a bullfrog", or that if Dave could, someone would feel him pulling hair or whispering something to scare us to death. In a side note, each of us also went through an endowment session for other family members on my mom's side. I got a Landry (we're related to Tom Landry, the first Cowboys football coach), and Doug got a Rainbolt (most surely a Native American on mom's side). How cool is that?

I guess, to bring this post full circle, my thoughts about Mother's Day has been more about being Family Day. To my mom, it's not about being showered with attention, and getting gifts or cards. I'm positive that in her mind, her 'Mother's Day' was Saturday. My mom's not one for big emotions, but she did get a little teary as she commented on all of her children being together in the temple with her. It was a good reminder for me that doing temple work, and doing the best we can as parents is the most important thing we can do for our children.

I'm immensely grateful for my mother. She had the courage to find a church for herself and her children. She had the courage to leave a marriage that hurt her and stay true to her faith. She had the courage to marry my father, 20 years her senior, because she loved him, and to have 3 more children with him. She endured all those years of getting all her children up and ready for church every single Sunday, whether she wanted to or not, and drive 30 minutes to get there. She instilled in us the power we have to get through any hardship we faced. She taught us how to forgive and love even when we didn't want to. She showed us how to laugh at ourselves, and have fun. She still teaches us how to cook, shop, make things, be a good parent, a great friend, and example. I'm not exactly sure of the number, but because of her, there are more than 20 members of the church, SO FAR!

I am loving my time as a mother. My inner me sometimes wants to rebel and refuse to acknowledge that I had a hand in creating four human beings, because it is stretching and pulling me into remote and scary places I never thought I'd have to tread through. I am learning, slowly, how to be a better person in general because of my kids, and that makes me smile, even if it's a rueful one at times!

Thanks, Little Mama. You're STILL my best friend, and I STILL love you to bits!