Mother's Day

Today is mother's day, a day most of us use to celebrate our mothers and all they do -or

have done- for us. So, in honor of my mother, I'm going to talk about some women I know, as

well as women in the scriptures.

The first of these women is my old babysitter Sarah. She was one of the most inspiring

women I knew growing up. After all, she made the best mac and cheese pizza, and what else

could a kid want? As I grew older I noticed more about her and her sister Rebekah, who would

play video games with me and my sisters when they babysat us. Both of them are incredibly

strong women who have shown me how to be patient, kind, smart, and both independent yet

reliant on the Lord. They moved away with their family a few years ago. I still miss them alot.

Rebekah still lives with her family, and Sarah has moved away as she got married a couple years

ago. Recently she called and told my family that she was pregnant, and just a few days ago she

learned that she and her husband are going to have a little baby boy. I know she will be a

fantastic babysitter, and I know that she and her sister are amazing women.

Sarah is also the name of an amazing woman in the Bible, who was once known as

Sarai. We all heard her story earlier this year with Come Follow Me, but to summarize her story,

you should first know who she is. She was the wife of Abraham, and the mother of Isaac. She

wasn't always the mother of Isaac though, it took many years for her to conceive and bear him,

enough that she was called barren. She and her husband had a promise from the Lord however,

that one day Abraham would be the father of many nations and Sarah would bear a son. It must

have been hard to keep up faith for so many years. After all, Sarah was old, well past the normal

age of having children. Even before she had her child, Sarah must have been a woman of great
faith, as we can still see the blessings of her faith today. After all, three of the world's largest

religions can trace their lineage back to her husband, Abraham.

Rebekah is also the name of a woman in the Bible, and the funny thing is, she was

Sarah's daughter in law. Rebekah and Isaac have a very romantic love story, at least according to

my seminary teacher this year. You see, Abraham sent one of his servants out to go find Isaac a

wife. Now, this servant didn't know how he w as going to be able to do this, so he prayed and

asked the Lord to send a woman to the nearby well and offer both him and his camels a drink. Lo

and behold, immediately Rebekah approaches, offers him and the camels water, and follows

through with the service. Isaac and Rebekah go on to have a long and happy marriage, and she

happens to have twin sons, Jacob and Esau after a period of Barrens and what can be assumed to

be a rough pregnancy as her children "struggled within her".

All four of these women have different stories and are in different stories and are in

different stages of their lives, but all of them should be honored in their own right. My old

babysitter Rebekah may not be married or be a mother, but she is an amazing inspiration of a

woman. Her sister Sarah is a mother to-be, and is inspiring in her own way as she and her

husband start their new journey of parenthood. Sarah of the old testament was barren for many

years, but stayed faithful to the promises that she knew would someday be hers. Rebekah, her

daughter in law was also barren for a time, and as her children "struggled within her" we can

assume she had a rough pregnancy. She must've also had a rough time raising her twin boys,

seeing as they fought for many years over their inheritances. I am not a mother, and am not

planning to be for quite a few years. I am however, a woman. My mother was a woman before

she had me and my sisters, and she is still a woman after having us.There are woman of all

shapes and kinds out there in the world. Some of them are destined to be amazing mothers, while
others amazing Aunts, Grandmothers, Wives, Sisters, Step-mothers, Adoptive Mothers, Sisters,

Daughters and so much more. Some are destined to be great career women, or spiritual women

who bind communities together. No two women are the same, but all should be respected for

what they are, Daughters of our Heavenly Parents. I know these things are true, and I say this in

the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.