FOOD FOR THE SPIRIT

In this month's Ensign, I read a short article that deeply touched me. It was written by an energy-depleted mother of three young boys. One morning, she awoke to a sick son. As the day progressed, there were spills, messes, diaper changes, outfit changes, errands to run, laundry to do, meals to cook, etc. As this sweet mother went through the day, she thought of all the things she never had time for: family history, serving her neighbors, missionary work. . .

"Finally with the children in bed. . . I picked up the Ensign, which was open to a talk by President Henry B. Eyring titled, 'As a Child.' My eyes fell on a passage I had previously marked: 'To keep the blessing of [changed natures] in our hearts will require determination, effort, and faith. King Benjamin taught at least some of what that will require. He said that to retain a remission of or sins from day to day we must feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, and help people spiritually and temporally' (Ensign, May 2006, 17)."

This sister then thought to herself, "How can I feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, and help others when I can scarcely take care of my own family?"

Then she shared the following: "I could see the day replay in my mind--full of feeding the hungry, doing laundry to clothe the naked, gently caring for our sick baby, helping our five-year-old prepare a family home evening lesson on missionary work, and then discussing with our family, the power of example--in other words, helping people spiritually and temporally" (Carolynn R. Spencer, "Was I Living the Gospel Fully?" Ensign, July 2009, 71).

This article was a great reminder to me that as mothers, we are doing the right things for the right reasons! I am serving others. I am helping to build God's kingdom. With each diaper I change, with each lesson I teach, with each meal I prepare, I am truly serving God's own children. What in this life, could be more noble, more important than that responsibility and privilege?