Written by Adrian, November 2008

How Great was my Mom to give me a testimony of the importance of Family

Ever since I have became a Mom myself I have often found myself thinking about the things my Mom taught me growing up and how she got me to understand what she needed me to know before she left this earth I realize she nor I knew she would be leaving so early but the Lord did and I believe that is why I felt the spirit and his Love when I was being taught by my Mother so that it was powerful enough for me to remember when she was gone. So many times in my daily life I find myself going threw things that I think wow that's why my Mom taught me that and how grateful I am that she did. One memory that has came back to me recently , Our Family had been living day to day life just like every other Family even down to the daily fights between Sisters while getting ready for school or who was wearing who's clothes and of course how nothing was fair and all that fun stuff. Well I guess that week must have been worse than normal because My Parents finally said that's enough we are having a family meeting Sunday afternoon! By the way as kids we never liked Family Meeting it always meant that we had to sit there for an hour or longer and listen to a lecture on what needed to change and why. I can honestly say how grateful I am now as an adult for those very important lessons. Sunday came and that particular meeting was about why we as a Family needed to try harder to get along and love each other and count on each other instead of always acting like we weren't united and that it was always one of us against another. My Mom reminded us that this is the only Family we have that the Lord gave us each other and did so knowing that sometimes it would be very hard to get along but also that the Lord does not make mistakes and it was No mistake that we were born into this Family with the Parents and siblings that we have and that the Lord expects us to learn ways to get along with each other and to Love each other . Our Parents went on to say that living in the world we live in today we cant rely on anyone to be their for us help us or love us the way we should be able to count on each other.Without our Family we would need to rely on others to accept us , love us , and be their when we needed something. Isn't that all that is important anyway is our Family we get to be with them again after death and that's all we get to take along with our spirits. My Mom said to us when you fight or have hate towards anyone in your Family for what ever reason who do you think you make happy the Lord or Satan? The lord does not like to see us mistreat anyone in our Family for any reason and if he was standing next to you everyday would you say or do the things to each other that you do now ? I think you would act a lot differently towards each other if the Lord visited our home. And every time you all fight or say you don't like each other or anyone in the Family the only one smiling is Satan and he enjoys seeing that you have hate in your heart towards your Family members because that ruins the Lords plans for Families. It also hurts you emotionally and it damages your spirit . I think we should remember that we take our feelings and our thoughts with us and that is why it is so important to have clean thoughts loving thoughts and I think most important mercy and understanding towards everyone especially our Family members, remember the Lord makes no mistakes he might have known it would be hard for two spirits in the same Family to get along but maybe we can look at it as a test the Lord wants to see how we end up living with and treating a Family member that we feel is impossible to get along with he is testing us and I know that can seem like such a hard test for some but I know he is not OK with us not trying and not doing our best to Love someone that we don't get along with or that has hurt us. I think back in my life and I realize how sad I would be today without the ability to forgive others in my Family and how very sad I would be if they had not forgave me for things I have done to them. None of us are perfect and it is not our place to decide how imperfect someone is or use their faults to justify why we can not accept them or even get along with them. The Lord has asked us to forgive and Love everyone and can you imagine all the hurt and bad feelings we could be free from if we all did this. I am so Grateful my Mom always showed me unconditional Love and acceptance in my life no matter what I had done or how I had choose to live because it taught me to be more aware, more patient and more understanding to others who might not be perfect (that includes all of us). I could have lost a lot of time with my Mom if she had ever chose to not be a part of my life because of my bad decision's or because I might not have been living the way she wished I would and because she never did that I have so many more memories of her and I am so grateful for that gift of forgiveness she gave me on a daily basis, especially threw certain times of my life I'm sure she had to try even harder to really Love me unconditionally it couldn't have been very easy all the time. I want more than anything to be a Mother just like my Mom was I want to always Love and support and be there for my kids threw everything no matter how much I don't agree with what they might do. I want my children to feel my Love for them so strong everyday no matter where they are or what they are doing, I know from experience how much that will mean to them to always feel that Loved.
I don't want to leave out My Father in this testimony of Family . I wish for everyone to know how much I Love and admire my Dad. And before I tell all the ways he has influenced my life so far I would first like to add that growing up and even into my adulthood it has not always been easy for my Father and I to get along with each other in fact you could say at times we have had a pretty rocky relationship I have even wasted weeks at a time not talking to him or thinking to myself how upset I was at him wondering if I could ever forgive him sometimes we hurt each other pretty bad with stupid harsh words or said things we should not have. I look back now thinking what a waste of time that was being mad at a Man the Lord and I choose as my Dad.(Remember we also choose our parents before we came to earth) The way I see things now is that I'm sure there will be plenty more times in my life that my Father and I wont see eye to eye but if losing my Mother early has taught me anything it is that life on this earth is way to short to let anything get in the way of having the best relationship with my Father as I can. And that means I have had to learn to decide that we wont always see things the same or we could find ourselves in a argument but that I need to step out of the situation before it gets to big to control and forget what we were fighting about and concentrate on the reasons I Love and admire my Dad. For many years now I have been looking for every reason I can to admire my Dad and Love him for who he is! The most important part of that sentence and the part that has taught me the most is Loving him for him not for what I think he should be or wishing he could be. Even at times to get along with but accepting that we are different and we can still have a Great relationship. I will tell you it is not hard anymore for me to find a reason everyday to Love my Dad even more than I do. My Dad is such a hard worker any of you that know him know how hard he works at anything he is doing he always gives his best! He always said growing up to always to your very best work on anything you do even if it meant starting over losing money on a job because you had to tear something down and redo it or what ever the reason, he said no matter if someone will know the difference or not do it right. He worked so hard when we were little to support our Family threw most of my childhood he worked two jobs and even built houses on the side to make sure we had a home and food on our table, how could anyone not admire that about their Dad in today's world were a lot of men chose not to work that hard for themselves or even their families. I am so fortunate that my husband reminds me so much of my Dad in that way he is a good worker and has been known to get home very late many days of the year to support our family I know his Father use to work just as hard for his Family growing up as well and did his best to support them, that is something very important to me to pass that work ethic from both sides of our families to our sons.
My Dad also worked very hard in the church still does he gives so much of his time and spirit to the Lord every week. My Dad is very head strong as am I (could be reason it was sometimes hard to get along) . My Dad is very forgiving and compassionate towards others he is always helping someone out or doing something for a family that could use his help I don't think he has ever told anyone no. He has had many trials in his life time and has made it threw them better than I think anyone else could have what an example to me to try and get threw things with as much faith as him. My dad is a great man a wonderful Father and an even better Grandpa his grandchildren love him they light up when he comes around and all I have to do is mention to Brayden that Grandpa is coming over and he waits by the door, its the same way with Michael's Dad, I hope they know how much I appreciate them being such a fun influence in their grand kids lives how lucky are my kids to have such great Grandpas. I could go on and on about all the things I Love about my Dad but I am running out of time I will one day write a tribute to him .
But for now I want to finish up my testimony I have on Family and to Thank the Lord for letting my heart be opened to forgiveness and to understanding why we are required to Love and Forgive all men no matter what and especially Family. I know I am not perfect on this matter and never will be but I am so much further on understanding it because of losing loved ones earlier than I would have liked too but that is one of the blessing that has came with losing my Mom. I hope my testimony can help others that might be struggling the way I have in times with this I know its hard but the Lord expects it of us. And I have been so happy and grateful that My Father and I have gotten along better than ever the last few years what a blessing it is to have him and the rest of my Family in my life I think my Mom is very happy at how well we all have tried our best to get along and create lasting relationships to take with us when we meet her again on the other side. I Love all my Family so much and appreciate them all everyday for their unconditional love towards me.