This past weekend is a state holiday here in Utah. It commemorates the arrival of the Mormon pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley. Usually, speakers in LDS church services note how glad we are that we don’t have to walk all day long, cross dangerous mountain passes, and domesticate a wild desert, and (more importantly) how grateful we are as their biological and cultural/religious heirs for the sacrifices they made to practice their religion in peace. (And yes, I am glad for all that.)
Even the traditional hymns, actually written by those pioneers, convey that message. But one hymn in particular touched me this weekend as I thought about (and participated in) my own struggles.
Why should we mourn or think our lot is hard?
‘Tis not so; all is right.
Why should we think to earn a great reward,
if we now shun the fight?
This is always appropriate on a Sunday morning, when I spend an hour trying to keep my children quiet enough to not disrupt the service too much, while my husband sits on the stand. It’s certainly a fight, even with all the generous help we get from others in our congregation.
But it’s appropriate on a higher level, too. It looks like our modern age doesn’t have a monopoly on entitlement, thinking we should earn a great reward without a fight. But really, why should we think to earn a great reward without doing anything to earn it?
Motherhood is hard. I don’t think I’ve ever danced around that, and I learn it again every week. But don’t we all know, deep down, that the things that are really worth doing are the things we really earn?
Because motherhood and our children are worth it.
The rest of the verse encourages us onward:
Gird up your loins; fresh courage take.
Our God will never us forsake;
And soon we’ll have this tale to tell—
All is well! All is well!
—”Come, Come, Ye Saints,” William Clayton
What do you think? How can we be ready and willing to earn the great rewards of motherhood? What are the great rewards of motherhood?
Photo by Nick Young
2 replies on “A great reward”
We sang that this past Sunday, too. I’d hate a horrible morning and was wanting to abandon my family and be alone for the rest of the day. That hymn put me in my place.
This subject reminds me of what Paine wrote in the American Crisis. Something like, “What we obtain to cheap, we regard too lightly. Heaven knows the price to put on it’s goods.” I know that’s not the exact quote but I don’t think it’s too far off. God knows how important motherhood is to His plan and to us and he “priced” it accordingly. Paine said something else in the Crisis, too. Something about “with perseverance and fortitude we have the future of a glorious issue.” I think that fits here as well. I have to remind myself when I’m trudging through the pits of motherhood that in the end I want to be with my family in eternity. If I succeed, I can only imagine the joy.
Yes that does put it in perspective. The speaker in our ward talked of the the women who crossed the plains. She quoted two women pioneers who had to bury their husbands along the way. The ground was too cold to dig graves for them. That really made me even more grateful to be a mother with a wonderful, supportive husband. Being parents is not easy and sometimes I feel like all my weakness are made bare on a daily basis. But you are right, our children are our greatest reward and their ultimate happiness will by my ultimate happiness and the only reward I want. 🙂