Thursday, January 8, 2009

Are you truly great? I bet you are!

“Do you see yourself as a heroic pioneer because you get out of bed every morning, comb your hair, and get to school on time? Do you see the significance of doing your homework every day and recognize the courage displayed in asking for help when you don’t understand an assignment? Do you see the heroism in going to church every single Sunday, participating in class, and being friendly to others? Do you see the greatness in doing the dishes over and over and over? Or practicing the piano? Or tending children? Do you recognize the fortitude and belief in the journey’s end that are required in order to keep saying your prayers every day and keep reading the scriptures? Do you see the magnificence in giving time a chance to whittle your problems down to a manageable size?

“True greatness . . . always requires regular, consistent, small, and sometimes ordinary and mundane steps over a long period of time.”
President Howard W. Hunter, "True Greatness," Ensign, May 1982, 20

This morning I was doing laundry, sweeping, all the "ordinary and mundane" things that we moms do every day, when I decided to take a break and work on my quote file when I read this quote. I loved it when I found it and put it in my file and I still love it. All the truly great people who I know feel like they are just doing small things for their family or neighbors or in their callings, but they do it with love and faith and are such examples. I am so blessed to know so many people who I can look up to. We all need to recognize our strengths and all the good things we do every day as we try to improve so we don't dwell on all our weaknesses.

Being a mom is FULL of "small, and [almost always] ordinary and mundane steps", but our work is truly great! I'm so blessed to have three of Heavenly Father's children in my home. (Just remind me of that when they come home from school and are fighting while doing dishes like every other day!!!)

Don't you love that painting by Pino? Find out about the artist and see other paintings by him here: http://www.impressionseverlasting.com/gallery/pino.html

2 comments:

  1. I hope you don't mind that I am following your blog now, but I wanted to comment because I appreciated this post - sometimes the "mundane" is so much harder than the "great" and it's nice to hear it get a little shout-out (:

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  2. Hi - you commented on my post about FHE-Repentence and I popped over to see your blog. I love how you put things. But what really caught me was the painting you showed here with the Oakland Temple in the background. What a great painting, and I've never seen it before. Thanks for sharing. Oakland has been my temple since I was 5 and it has a special place in my heart.

    Jennifer

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