My life's work

As I had a few quiet moments today, I reflected about how as a mom I don't like to punish my children.. Rewarding them is so much more fun...I love when they come home after being away for the day and just tell me story after story.. I love seeing the joy in their voices in retelling how much fun they had with the brethren. Meeting new people and being shocked at how much they enjoyed them..but as a mom it's my job to correct their bad choices and punish their misdeeds. That's not my favorite part but if I don't tell them in love what they did wrong and how to correct it, I can't expect them to know they were wrong. I have worked very hard to teach my daughters to help in the kitchen no matter who made the mess, to help the older sisters cleanup even if they're just one or two years older, and to cook a decent meal for dinners for company as well as church dinner and the sick.. I have tried to teach my sons to take care of the females in their lives, to lift the grocery bags in the house and open the doors so they don't have too. I've tried to explain to my sons how important it is to be a help and strength literally in life, to take out the trash even if its a pain cause it helps your sisters. To help with the dishes because you won't always have mom or your sisters around. To help fold laundry because those are your clothes too. My children are in essence my life's work. I don't know what I will do when the last one leaves home. To be honest I worry about when the first one leaves home because as shebecame an adult she also became a friend in some fashion. I still instruct and teach her but most of my work is done, I am confident she has all the knowledge she needs to be a wife and eventually a mother. Not just bobby but charity as well, she has taken most of the things I've tried to teach and applied them. As I contemplated all these things I thought about how great I feel when I see one of my children follow through with something I taught them even without my push or my reminding them. I expect it and they want to please me so they do it. But I realized its more than that now, it's part of who they are now. They help because they believe they should and that is a great feeling. I realized this must be how my father in heaven feels when I live my life in a way that shows his light to those I'm around. I have spent many hours on my knees asking The Lord to lead me as a mother that when my job is done if only one thing I teach them gets through that they will love The Lord and want to serve him. I know god hears these prayers and I hope he answers them.