Faith, Fortitude, Fullfillment

I had an instant connection with this conference talk by Elder David S. Baxter: Faith, Fortitude, Fulfillment: A Message to Single Parents.  I was raised by a single mother.  My father died when I was 14 years old, 5 of 8 children still at home.  (Nick not pictured as he was on his mission.)  My mother was refined in the refiners fire during this time after my father died.  She never remarried but talked of wanting someone to talk things over with, never feeling more alone than in a room full of people.  She never spoke of the financial burden she bore, but I knew it was great.  Always a stay at home mom, she now had to work to support her family.  In addition she cared for her own mother in our home.  She waited up for me, counseled me and I found her on her knees in prayer.  She was an example to me then, a greater example to me now.

"Although you may at times have asked, 'Why me?' it is through the hardships of life that we grow towards godhood as our character is shaped in the crucible of affliction; as the events of life take place while God respects the agency of man. As Elder Neal A. Maxwell commented, we cannot do all the sums or make it all add up because "we do not have all the numbers."


"Meanwhile, you are striving to raise your children in righteousness and truth, knowing that while you cannot change the past, you can shape the future.  Along the way you will obtain compensatory blessing, even if they are not immediately apparent."


"With God's help, you need not fear for the future.  Your children will grow up and call you blessed, and every single one of their many achievements will stand as a tribute to you."

I hope I am a tribute to you, Mom.  That is my wish this Mother's Day.