Mom

Spring cleaning has arrived at my house and to help pass the time, I turned on Sister Oscarson's address from this past General Woman's Meeting. Her talk was on being defenders of the Family Proclamation. I love that woman and her amazing talks. I was going through my bookshelf just as she was quoting President Thomas S. Monson when he said, "May each of us treasure this truth; one cannot forget mother and remember God. One cannot remember mother and forget God. Why? Because these two sacred persons, God and our earthly mother, partners in creation, in love, in sacrifice, in service, are as one." The timing could not have been more perfect because just as she was talking, this picture fell out of one of my books. My young mother, Rhonda Welker. What a complete babe! I think of her often. I am not sure where this picture came from or how I even came to have it. I have very few pictures of my mother and no recollection of her. Her visit to this earth was short but from what I know of it, it was not without its impact. The things I know about my mother make me very proud to be her daughter! I know that my mother loved art and loved to draw, I have some of her pictures. I know that my mother loved to write, poetry in particular. One of her poems about the family, hangs framed in bedroom. I know that my mother enjoyed plants and worked in a greenhouse when she was a teenager. I also know that she loved people and loved working on her family history and filling out genealogy charts, some day I am going to pick up where she left off! Those are the things that I know for sure about my mom because that is what other people have told me. I think about other traits that she had that I could have developed from her, here are a few conclusions that I have come to: I think my mom had an itch for adventure. I don't think that is a trait I developed 100% on my own and if you met my father, you would know that it probably didn't come from his side of the family. I would like to think that we would have made very good travel companions! I also like to think that she was a fierce defender of truth and wasn't afraid to stand up for what she knew to be right. I have some of her personal thoughts written down and reading through them, I can tell that she loved her Heavenly Father and her family very much. I am positive that she had a great sense of humor, you can't be from the Welker side of the family and NOT have some kind of humor! I am grateful for her impact on my life. I am so lucky to have been sent to her and put in her care for a short while on earth, but the best part, she gets to be my guardian angel! I have felt her near me many times and on many, many occasions. I have never felt as close to her as I do when I am in the Temple though. I know that she has her own work to do on the other side, but, like the good mother that she is, she makes time to watch over her family and maybe even has a hand in smoothing out some bumps in our road. I would like to think that she had a hand in lining my parents up because I don't think that it was a coincidence that two single people who hated to dance, would just happen to show up on the same night at the same place, to do just that, DANCE. I am sure there was some divine intervention going on there. I laugh when I think that she could have been put in charge, by God, to pick out another earthly mother to care for me. I imagine that the conversation went something like this: "You know, that youngest daughter of yours, she might only be 6 months old now, but I gave her your fierceness and she just might turn out to be a handful. You might want to pick someone who can put up with her stubborn, bull headedness, which she WILL develop, trust me." Well, I think that she picked just the right sort of woman that she knew I would need to help keep me focused and on the right track while growing up. She knew she would be firm but loving, and she was right. What a blessing it is for me to have two mothers! I am so blessed and I thank my Heavenly Father often for such a thoughtful gift! President Monson was right, you can't forget mother and remember God or remember mother and forget God. Mother's are such wonderful people! I absolutely LOVE seeing new mothers with their sweet new babies. The love and care and the attention that they give to them make me turn my thoughts to how things were in heaven before I left for earth. To think, these little babies just days or weeks before were in the loving arms of our Heavenly Father and loving family members, embracing and saying their farewells before their earthly journey. Our sweet mothers are, of course, the first people to greet us here on earth and with her first embrace, things that are so new, now, have to feel so familiar to each small baby. It is the feeling of love. God loved us so He sent His son. His son loved us so He created mothers.