Blessed

Recently I have been catching myself up with the General Conference sessions I missed while out of town in California and New York. I just finished listening to the talk by Mary N. Cook of the General Young Women presidency called “A Virtuous Life-Step by Step.” She began her talk by saying “One of the choicest moments of a mother’s life is when she receives her newborn baby girl in her arms and realizes that this pure spirit has just come from our Father in Heaven. It is a sweet reminder that we are daughters of our Heavenly Father, and having just left His presence, a child comes to earth pure and ready to learn and progress.”

As you know I am just about three months away from that moment in time. I can only imagine the feelings I will have when I welcome my baby girl body and soul into our home, our hearts, our family. I have loved pregnancy, although I had a horrible first trimester with morning sickness and I know as I get bigger and the temperature rises my body will feel more uncomfortable and I’ll have to make more of an effort to remain positive. No matter the inconvenience and pain, I have discovered how sacred pregnancy is. I have become closer with my husband as we talk about her arrival, and he watches my tummy grow daily. I discovered this morning that when Adam comes to bed each night (me being dead asleep much like my mother Betty) he takes time to have “tummy time” holding our baby in his hands and feeling her move beneath my skin. If she stops moving he gives her a little shake and whispers “please don’t leave…” Right now I feel so in love with my little daughter and her Daddy and I feel so blessed to be given the opportunity to have her.

At times I feel a strong responsibility weighing upon me as I think of raising her up to be a righteous daughter of God. Cook put this responsibility into perspective for me when she stated: “Just as the Salt Lake Temple took 40 years to build, stone by stone, you are building a virtuous life, step by step. You have made covenants to be obedient. You have made some good choices. The patterns of virtue you develop now will help you to continually hold fast to the iron rod. You will never be alone on your journey because the Savior will always be with you, and you can repent. You have been blessed with the Holy Ghost to comfort and guide you. Look to the examples of the believers in your life, and seek to help others on their journey.” This is a step by step process and at times I look to life as an enormous task, difficult to chew…but we take life one day at a time. We aren’t doing it alone. Adam and I will have to learn to depend on our Savior more than ever. Its going to be a beautiful adventure.