Future Mothers

This past week we enjoyed a visit from a dear friend named Brooke who is from Redding, CA and is seventeen years old. We have known Brooke and her family since she was seven. We met her when our young boys were the age she was when her father died. I felt a connection with her family, because I could imagine how much harder life would be without Nathan. When she found out that I was having another baby, Brooke asked if she could fly out over her Spring break to visit. (Brooke has always loved babies). We had a wonderful visit.

This brings up a topic often on my mind. I am currently the Stake Young Women's President and have stewardship over the 60+ Young Women in our valley. Consequently, they are often on my mind, and I ponder over what I can do to help them reach their potential and overcome the many obstacles in their path.

I never go to sleep before I take the time to pray for them. They really are up against so much. If they could see clearly who they are and what they want, I think it would change what they do and why they do it. When we were talking to Brooke, we were asking her about college plans and what career she wanted to go into. She was a little ambivalent, and after some discussion I realized that what she wants to be when she grows up is a mother.

There is a no more noble goal, yet the world has erased that choice for young women. We are convinced that we must achieve something more to be considered successful. What a tragedy. And as a result, so many women feel valueless and push the belief onto their daughters that motherhood isn't enough.

I hope Brooke keeps that desire in her heart and is careful to marry someone who is the kind of father she would have wanted. I have the same hope for all the young women in my life...that they will recognize what is important to them and live to achieve that. I hope they keep their lives centered in Christ, so they can be guided in what will bring them joy.

I hope they look beyond television and movies in defining what love is. So often it is defined as lust, when real love means sacrificing, being patient, giving service to others, and getting up with a crying baby in the middle of the night without even being asked. I find it ironic that I used to say that some guys were "too nice." So often we want adventure, when it's actually great to be married to someone who is nice.

I hope that my own daughters can grow to know who they are....daughters of God. I hope they can look beyond the peer pressures of the world and do what they want to do. I hope that I will teach them and prepare them for the world in which they live. Life isn't going to get any easier and there will be more and more roadblocks placed in their path. Ultimately, I know that they can overcome the world's view and find joy in what is good and true.

Brooke was with me when Danielle smiled for one of the first times. I look forward to hearing about her child's first smile, and hope it brings her great joy!