Food for Thought: Invisible Mothers

This one comes from Lucy Stern who thought it should be posted. Some of us have seen it before, but it's always a good reminder when we feel we're starting to fade into obscurity or have become entirely irrelevant.

Thanks for sending this, Lucy.

Invisible Mother.....

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'

Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more! Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this??

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please..'

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude -but now, they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!?

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England . Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe . I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it t o me until I read her inscription: 'To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof, No one will ever see it. And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does.

No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become. At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for 3 hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'You're gonna love it here.'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

Great Job, MOM!

Share this with all the Invisible Moms you know... I just did. The Will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you. This is beautiful and makes a ton of sense. To all the wonderful mothers out there.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am in much debt to my invisible Mother

Food for Thought: The Gifts of the Three Wise Men

Ladies,

My mom is a teacher in Relief Society, and she is giving her lesson this next week. She sent us all a copy of her handout which is an interesting read, and I thought I'd share. It in some small way helps us comprehend how the Three Wise Men treasured and reverenced their King of Kings.

One personal observation: we traditionally think of the Three Kings or the Three Magi and envision them as great, powerful, and wealthy men---someone wealthy enough to shower such extravagances upon an obscure child born in a rural village of no consequence to the world at large. But, I like to think that since wisdom doesn't come only to those with wealth, perhaps these three travelers who came so far to kneel at the Christ child's feet were simply scholars well-versed in the scriptures and sure in their faith in God's promises. Perhaps they were as obscure as He. When one considers the costliness of their gifts in such a context, along with the perils of the journey they undertook to bestow them, their conviction of the birth of the Savior must have been powerful indeed.

The Gifts of the Three Wise Men

“Some Blessings can be counted by number naming them one by one! But, there is no way a number could measure our thanks for the gift of His wonderful Son.”

The three Wise men brought unique gifts for the new little King of Israel. Frankincense and Myrrh were treasured by Kings and Sovereigns and were more highly esteemed than gold. Two millennia ago, these precious resins were carried by Wise Men from the East traditionally called the Magi Kings who appeared in Jerusalem led by a shining new star in the heavens. The star went before them until it rested over the place where the young Christ Child lay. There the Magi presented the child with the most precious gifts known to the ancient world: Frankincense, Gold, and Myrrh.

The miracle of Frankincense and Myrrh: Frankincense originates from a legendary tree native to Southern Arabia-one whose scrubby and unpretentious appearance camouflaged the resinous treasure hidden in its bark. Called the “perfume of the gods” by the ancient Egyptians., both the Frankincense gum and essential oil were coveted by successive generations of Greeks, Romans, and Arabians. More than 3000 tons were exported each year for temple rituals, cosmetics, and to treat every conceivable ill.
“Myrrh: a darker, richer, earthier aromatic, was used to perfume the royal mummeries of Egypt and was one of the ingredients in the sacred anointing oil of the Israelites, as both incense and an oil, myrrh was prized by the ancients as medicine.

Gums and resins of these precious products were produced by: making scrapes, incisions or grooves into the trunk of the frankincense tree and the large branches of the myrrh shrub. In response to the wound, the plants produce a thick, protect-ant gum resin called tears. These droplets are collected by hand and allowed to harden into small golden hued beads. Only a few tons of Frankincense and myrrh are produced each year.

The precious metal Gold was used to decorated the temples in Israel and other countries. This gold may have been used to assist Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus as they were forced to journey to Egypt for the babes safety until the wicked King Herod died.

May you and yours have a joyful Christmas,
as you teach of Him and the blessed gift of Christ’s Love!
Love Sister Tarbet