Tuesday's Testimony

Each month, the LDS Church publishes a magazine, The Ensign.  It contains articles, pictures, stories from Church leaders and from Church members all over the world.  I look forward to it arriving at my house each month, and I immediately take some time to read.  Last night I read an article written by a woman from California.....a mother, just like me.  She hit the nail on the head with her testimony of motherhood and having children in today's society. 

I would love for you to read it:

They Are All Mine
Karsen H. Cranney, “They Are All Mine,” Ensign, Feb. 2010, 68–69


“Are these all yours?”
It’s a question I hear often, so it didn’t surprise me when I heard it from the lady behind me in line at the grocery store. I looked at my six-year-old and five-year-old daughters standing on either side of my full cart, my toddler happily swinging her legs from the seat in front, and my four-month-old baby strapped to my chest.
“Yes, they are all mine,” I said, smiling.
From the time my husband and I started our family, our choices about how many children to have and when to have them have often come into public question. The decision to have our first child was not a logical one, at least not according to the standards of the world. We were still in our early 20s. Having just recently graduated from college, my husband was searching for a “real job.” We had a meager income and no insurance. Still, the impression was undeniable that spirits eagerly waited to come to our family, so we proceeded with faith.
We were blessed with a healthy pregnancy, a beautiful baby girl, and a stable job with a career track. I was grateful to be able to stay at home with my daughter and the three children who followed. All were brought into our family after strong divine impressions that the time was right, but that didn’t make it easy to explain to others why we would have so many children so close together.
The many inquiries I unfailingly receive often question my judgment: “Why so many?” “Do you not realize how much it costs to raise a child to age 18?” “Can you really give each child the attention and opportunity he or she needs?” And, of course, “Are you done yet?”
I hope we’re not done, even though the years of parenting small children are intense and extremely challenging physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. There are days when children need to be fed, diapers need to be changed, babies need to be soothed, and noses need to be wiped—all at the same time. At such times I question my sanity and wonder if I know what I am doing. On those days the voice of the world seems to laugh in derision, as if to say, “Told you so!”
But how grateful I am during those moments for the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the value it places on families. Every day I rely on gospel principles taught by prophets past and present to know that my work as a mother—and it is work—is the most important thing I could be doing in my life and is worth every effort. In answer to fervent prayer, I receive divine assistance daily to do what I am asked to do in my home. Through His tender mercies, a loving Father in Heaven allows those days of absolute exhaustion to come punctuated with moments of incandescent joy.
So to the woman at the grocery store and to others who wonder why I would devote my heart and soul to raising children, I proudly reply, “Yes, they are all mine—gratefully, whole-heartedly, and without hesitation!”

Click HERE to see the entire February issue.

This article was on my mind when I went to bed, and again all this morning.  Nate & I want 4 children.  We discussed this when we were dating, and we've never changed our minds.  Child spacing is always something I am thinking about & analyzing.....but when it comes down to it, in the end, I just want a house-full of children.  I want to pray with them, read the scriptures to them, teach them the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  This is all I want out of life.....to be a mother and to work every day to raise them in truth and light.  Nothing else matters. 

Nate & I were able to attend the temple a few weeks ago.  We don't go as often as we should.  But that evening before we left, I talked with Cameron about the temple.  He was very excited that we were going, even though it meant he was staying here with a babysitter.  He watched as we got our temple bags ready, and as we walked out the door, he made sure we had our bags with us.  Also, yesterday, he got his stomp rocket stuck up in a tree outside our place.  That evening as he said our nighttime prayer, he prayed that we would be able to get his rocket down from the tree.  It was so sweet, so innocent.  Yet SO full of faith!  It made me feel like we are doing something right.....!!!! 

I have a testimony of motherhood, of families, of the importance of putting the Gospel first in our homes.  I can't wait to have more children, and I have felt the Spirit confirm to me that our Heavenly Father has more little Spirits to send to our home, and that He will give me the strength, knowledge & ability to raise them in a way that is pleasing to me and most importantly, to Him.  Working together, the three of us....Nate, myself, & the Lord....we will build a strong, eternal family that will last forever.