Finding My Purpose as a Mother

I am reflecting today about my purpose as a mother and how fast life passes by as I cradle my first granddaughter in my arms. Words can't express the love and emotion one feels as they watch their own daughter go through her first child's birth.

It feels like it was just yesterday that I had my first baby and welcomed her into my loving arms. I felt a new love for my husband as we began establishing a family and creating a home of love and opportunity for that baby. I thought I knew what love was.

Then my second daughter was born and again I felt increased love for my growing family. With each birth of my 5 children my capacity to love grew and grew. How blessed I felt to have these babies born into our family. What joy and happiness filled my life as I could raise them and teach them of their purpose on earth.

Then a year ago, my second daughter chose an eternal companion that joined our family. I was not sure I was ready to let my daughter get married and leave home. She held a special spot in our family and I would miss her. But as I watched the love and happiness she felt with her new companion and I saw the love and tenderness he expressed through his words and actions, I was comforted to know she would be able to progress in life with him and fulfill the measure of their creation. I wasn't losing a daughter, I was gaining a son!!

Now this little family has welcomed home their first baby girl, Lacy Lou Jeppesen- Born on Sept 2, 2013 at 9:10 am, weighing 7lb. 11 oz and 19-1/2 in. long. After a struggle in the NICU for 5 days, little Lacy Lou has come home from the hospital with a monitor tracking her every breath for oxygen. Every inhale/exhale is a miracle within itself.

I am holding her in this quiet little apartment thinking about how much love I have for her. Again, my love for my husband and our eternal family is inexpressible. This baby gives purpose to my life, to her mother and father's lives and to the whole extended family. She has a strong family link on every side that already love her and care for her. What a blessing for a baby to start her life with incredible love.

I was given a special insight to my second daughter before she was born. I had the impression that she was going to be a Mother in Zion and that it was my responsibility to set the example, to teach her to be a mother and welcome children into this world. Reality was that she loved babies and baby stuff and she observed every mother around her. She always wanted to be a mother and has maternal instincts that were unusual for her age. So now I see her purpose in life being fulfilled. Being a mother is what she is created to do.

This infant in my arms is a fulfillment of a spiritual prompting I had over 20 years ago about my daughter and it is a fulfillment of my purpose in raising a Mother in Zion!!