Because Of Everything
E.T. Sullivan penned these insightful words: “When God wants a great work done in the world or a great wrong righted, he goes about it in a very unusual way. He doesn’t stir up his earthquakes or send forth his thunderbolts. Instead, he has a helpless baby born, perhaps in a simple home out of some obscure mother. And then God puts the idea into the mother’s heart, and she puts it into the baby’s mind. And then God waits. The greatest forces in the world are not the earthquakes and the thunderbolts. The greatest forces in the world are babies.” (The Treasure Chest, p. 53.)
I love this quote, however I think it only partially hits the mark. Why? I believe this statement, "God puts the idea into a mother's heart" while true, is incomplete. I believe that the real power in the world are “righteous” mothers who are spiritually attuned to the voice of the Lord, who receive the Lord’s inspiration and who through their faith and tireless determination instill heavenly values, those of most worth in the eternities, into the hearts of their children.
“A child’s mind is like a bowl of Jello, you have to put the good stuff in before it sets (My favorite is lime jello with slices of pear or peaches). — Thanks Mom!”
The apostle Paul wrote in praise of Timothy’s “unfeigned faith … , which dwelt first,” he said, “in thy grandmother Lois, and [in] thy mother Eunice.”(2 Timothy 1:5) Later he admonished Timothy to “Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;
“From [the days when thou wert] a child, thou hast known the holy scriptures.” (2 Timothy 3:14-15)
When I was young my mother taught me many things by example, some by teaching and on occasion by correcting me and holding me accountable for my actions. When I was just five my brother Dan and I accompanied her to the grocery store. After the desired food items were bagged and paid for we returned to the car. As she was unloading the cart she noticed that in my hand I had a small package containing a pair of shoelaces. She didn’t get upset, but asked me where I had gotten them from. She already knew the answer, maybe not exactly how I had ended up with them, but she knew that we hadn’t paid for them and that I must have taken them.
She asked me if we had paid for them. Again she already knew the answer but she patiently allowed me to reflect. I replied that I had not paid for them, but that I wanted them. They were displayed on a wall that was within my reach and I had simply taken them. She kindly explained that taking things from the store without paying for them is called stealing. She said that good boys don’t take things which don’t belong to them. She asked me if I wanted to be a good boy. I nodded yes.
She further explained, using words a five and a three year old could understand, that the only way to make it right was for me to return the shoelaces and to tell the store manager that I was sorry. She turned the cart around with Dan and me riding in it and we went back inside. That day, in her loving way, she not only taught me an important lesson about honesty, but also about personal accountability and being responsible to fix my errors.
I will be forever indebted to my mother, who taught me how to pray and then when I no longer needed coaching continued to kneel with me at bedtime to listen to my prayers. Because of her my prayers were heard both on earth and in Heaven.
I remember as clearly as if it happened yesterday coming home early one afternoon from Junior high school. I walked in the front door and called out, “Mom, I’m home.”
She answered me from the dining room. There in front of her on the table were scriptures and a Book of Mormon study guide. An actual manual with questions to be answered and blanks to be filled in. My first thought was, why is she studying the scriptures, not just reading them, but actually studying them? I was pretty sure she already knew everything about the Book of Mormon.
I’m certain my expression was one of both surprise and curiosity as I observed, “you’re using a manual to study the Book of Mormon?”
“Yes,” she affirmed. “Using the study guide helps me read slower and do a better job of pondering the scriptures and understanding their application.”
I am thankful to my mom who, besides teaching us essential life lessons, also taught my brothers and sister the joys of gospel study. She instilled within us a love for the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon.
One Sunday morning while we were in the car on our way to church I suddenly remembered that I was supposed to give a two and half minute talk in Sacrament meeting that day. As you might imagine I panicked. Mom calmly offered to help. What could I possibly say? I knew it wasn’t going to go well. I had a sick feeling in my stomach. Not only was I going to be embarrassed in front of all my teenage friends, but there was absolutely nothing I could do to prevent it.
It was then, in my moment of crisis, that my mother suggested I tell the story of Helaman’s warriors. She coached me during the ten minute drive to church and even shared with me a few insights she had gleaned during her studies. I don’t remember exactly what I said that morning during my talk, but I do remember my mom smiling proudly as I finished. Contrary to my fears, I didn’t flop or embarrass myself and I even had a few compliments from kind members.
Over 2,000 years ago Helaman led a group of young, stripling warriors into battle. They knew who they were and what God expected of them. They were to do battle with seasoned warriors. Though statistically the odds were heavily against them, they had been taught by their mothers to have faith in God and to be obedient in all things. Of them we read:
“Now they had never fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.
“And they rehearsed unto me [Helaman] the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it” (Alma 56:47-48). (Italics added)
What an invaluable blessing it is for today’s youth to hear and witness the unwavering testimony of their parents and know that if they too have faith, doubting not, God will deliver them.
Later as Helaman was recounting their courage and undaunted defense of their position in battle he said:
“Yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea, and even according to their faith it was done unto them; and I did remember the words which they said unto me that their mothers had taught them” (Alma 57:21). (Italics added)
Their mothers knew it. What did they know? And more importantly what did they teach their sons to prepare them for life's most desperate battles?
Here is a partial list of the gospel principles that stood out for me, truths these Lamanite mothers knew and taught to their young sons.
-To have faith in God, faith that He would deliver them if they doubted not.
-To value liberty (freedom), more than the comforts that can be so easily taken for granted.
-To be obedient, to do your duty with exactness.
-To have courage
-To be valiant
-To stand firm and to be an unwavering example, others of your fellow warriors are counting on you.
-To rescue those who have fainted in battle, wounded in their personal struggles with satan.
-To pray for protection and help
-To receive answers to prayers, and garner heavenly assurances.
On this Mother’s Day I give thanks to my grandmothers, to my mother, to my wife and to our daughters and daughter-in-law for the wonderful examples they are of faith, charity and compassion to me and to all those they serve.
I owe everything I am to the patient understanding and forgiveness they have extended to me as their son, husband and father. Because Of Everything they do, I am inspired to be better person each and everyday.
In closing I echo the words of Abraham Lincoln when he praised his dear mother,
“All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother. I remember my mother’s prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.”