Meekness in the Powerful Mother-

"A Church leader once toured a facility that housed a huge hydraulic crushing machine that could reduce old cars into small cubes. For a demonstration, the guide asked the man to remove his watch. The operator then placed it in the machine and adjusted the controls, and the top blade came crashing down, stopping just a millimeter above the watch. Next the sides slammed together, but once again they stopped just shy of the crystal. Then the operator removed the watch and returned it unscratched.

Much pleased with the demonstration, this good man turned to those with him and said, “We have just witnessed the greatest demonstration of meekness I have ever seen. Meekness is great power under complete control.”

(The Beatitudes—Pathway to the Savior, By S. Michael Wilcox)

So often the role of the mother is disregarded or passed on to another. It is the same with many of the traits that make a good mother.

Women are rarely valued for being kind, meek, humble, nurturing, modest and loving. Women, especially in the world, are valued when they embrace more stereotypical male traits, like anger, aggression and leadership.

Look around you. What are women doing who get attention on television? They are making music videos in which they show their bodies as objects, not powerful objects that birth and feed children, no, their bodies are powerful because of their ability to make men look at them.

Women are on the news because they lack control of themselves. Instead they "party hard" and get sent to rehab. Women are not on the news because they spend every day making sure that their home is running smoothly, loving their children, and sacrificing their own immediate needs to nurture others.

Women are famous because they run companies and states. They compete with men in male professions and they win. I don't think there is anything wrong with this, but I don't think it is the only way to be valued as a woman.

Sometimes I forget to live these virtues in my own home. I find myself seeking to control those around me. Instead of leading with example, I yell, control, and humiliate. I am forgetting the great power inherent in humility, love, nurturing, and meekness.

We see it often in online forums. Motherhood can be an isolating profession in America, and so things like Facebook have an amazing ability to give stay at home mothers social contact and support that they might not otherwise get. Despite this it is not uncommon to see women attacking each other because they do things differently. We are already less respected and less valued in our society, and yet we perpetuate this among ourselves by attacking one another.

The phrase and poem, "The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world" is not just a silly idea. It is true. The problem lies when we as WOMEN do not even acknowledge or demand RESPECT for our great power. We can make a difference in the lives of not just our children, but in the lives of all those around us and in the world. To do this we must stand strong together, and value the traits and virtues that come naturally to us-

Meekness, kindness, love, nurturing, modesty- these are all things that can make a mother and a woman a blessing, and a pillar of strength in her world. We must value ourselves before we will be valued by others.