Last week my 15 year-old son spoke in church. He prepared it on his own and wanted to speak without reading his talk.
I was happy. He did well and as a mom, this is one of those happy, content moments of motherhood and raising kids in the Gospel.
Today, my married son, age 26 and his wife, age 24 spoke in Sacrament meeting. Again, a great feeling of happiness came over me. They did a great job, they were thoughtful and inspiring, and not boring.
You train up your kids in the way they should go, and many times--away they go. But it is these sweet moments when all those teaching moments and training and setting examples seem to come through.
We have certainly had our ups and downs, and it is true for me that "a mom is only as happy as her most unhappy child." When our kids make good choices we feel happy.
Having felt the other side of that, I truly appreciate these days and want to remember to be thankful and recognize that we should never give up when the road seems rough.
But it is also true that: "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." (3 John: 4)
and "A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother." (Proverbs 10: 1)
As mothers, we need not compete but share in the journey of raising our children, knowing that some will take longer than others, but to be thankful for these times when we see our children walking in truth. And wait patiently, without complaining when things do not go as we would hope.
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Deila is the mom of five kids who looks for the deeper meaning of life’s joys and struggles on planet earth. You can find her in: Eve out of the Garden, at http://deilataylor.blogspot.com 
