hard is good

Last week was a bit of a rough one.

I have really been struggling with all of the changes and demands of life with two kids. Don't get me wrong, my heart overflows with gratitude each day for the gift of these priceless bundles of joy--it has just been quite overwhelming for me.

For different reasons concerning these changes, last week was quite rough. Tears were shed as my efforts to get at least something noticeable done around the house, take care of the kids, and most importantly--spend quality time with them, seemed to prove to no avail.

At the peak of my frustration, I went with the young women in our ward to the Church History Museum in Salt Lake. The museum currently has an exhibit called 'Practicing Charity: Everyday Daughters of God' (I about died when I saw the name of the exhibit--so fitting and beautiful!). I'm not gonna lie, with the week I was having, I was pretty stressed and overwhelmed about going. However, all of that went away the second we walked into the exhibit. Between the adorable elderly man playing beautiful hymns on the piano and the paintings/depictions of the exhibit, all of my stress melted away. I was reminded of the gift it is to be a daughter of God and to be a mother. Truly, it was a perfectly placed tender mercy.

Motherhood is hard, but hard is good. I am learning that it is during these times that we truly turn to the Lord, humble, submissive and fully ready, for help and guidance on what we can do to help our individual children. It is during these times that we can, as Elder Holland once said, go to the Lord and "pound on the doors of heaven" for guidance concerning our children, and He will help us.

The exhibit was nothing less than incredibly beautiful--both in what I saw and what I felt. Here are a few of my favorite paintings with their depictions:

"To be human is to have the faith to remember our immeasurable individual worth and then labor each day to repent, to change, and to trust that we do not labor alone."

Love that. I'm putting it on my mirror as my mantra for the new week.

If at all possible, go see the exhibit! It is absolutely beautiful. If not, you can find all of the paintings and explanations here.You won't be disappointed.

I am so thankful to be a daughter of God with a mother heart. Whether we have children or not, as daughters of God, we all have a mother heart--a heart of love, comfort, and service.