Every time a child is born, so is a mother.  

An eternal bond is formed.  

As you grow, your mother is there.  

There to tuck you in, to cheer you up.  

There to teach.  There to send you off and to listen when you call.  

There to encourage you as you explore, create, and dance the night away.  

There to encourage, to build faith.  

There by your side, when others have left you.  

There in good times and hard times.  There in the details of daily life.  

Life doesn't come with a manual, it comes with a Mother.

This Mother's Day thank the women who have loved, mentored, and mothered you.

Full of ordinary moments made memorable by a mother's love, this is a beautiful tribute Calee Reed made for her mom who died of cancer. 

Life and love are great gifts that moms can share with children.  If we do our best, these gifts will become part of a treasured heritage long after we are gone.

This will inspire you and touch your heart!  

Patriotic Moms everywhere are concerned about our country.  

We care deeply about America and the legacy of liberty we leave for our children.  

Many are asking, “What can I do?  How can I make a difference?”  Here are some simple, yet powerful, suggestions.


Consider Your Situation

Reflect on the Things You Value Most.  Faith, family, freedom...these are things many of us hold dear.  They guide our thoughts and are reflected in our daily activities.  What are the thing you value most?  What are your priorities?

As mothers, I believe one of our first priorities is to nurture our children.  I agree with Ronald Reagan who said, “The family has always been the cornerstone of American society. Our families nurture, preserve, and pass on to each succeeding generation the values we share and cherish, values that are the foundation of our freedoms.” 

When we nurture our children well we prepare them to lead happy, purposeful lives and make the world a better place.  If that’s all we do, we have done something of infinite worth.  It’s hard to overestimate the value of a Nelle Reagan or a Sonya Carson.  These were both humble women in difficult circumstances who changed the course of history.  Any mother who gives her best to teaching her children the “values that are the foundation of our freedoms” leaves a precious legacy.  

Some mothers have other opportunities as well.  You may want to improve the quality of your child's education, make your city a better place to live, help teen moms, teach others about the importance of constitutional government, or help elect good leaders.  We each need to look into our hearts and decide what we can and ought to do to make the world better. 

Decades ago, long before we moved to our community, a group of families decided to work with the public school system to create a school that would provide an outstanding education, with a focus on basic skills and an understanding of history.  It took many years of effort, but they succeeded beyond their dreams.  Their service will have a lasting impact on our family and many others.


Think About Your Season in Life.  At each stage of life we have important things to accomplish that may be difficult or impossible to do at any other time.  What is your season?  What are your current opportunities and constraints?  Where should you focus now?

I recently received a loving letter from my 19-year-old son.  He gently counseled me to give my best efforts to mothering his younger brother (and my youngest child).  He reminded me that I will have all the rest of my life to pursue other interests, but we only have a year and a half before this young son leaves home.  When he added, “Like me.  :),”  his words brought tears to my eyes.  He’s doing exactly what we want him to do, but we really miss him.  I can’t go back and do things for him now that should have been done while he was at home.  Each season is unique.


Assess What You Have to Offer.  What are your talents, resources, and abilities?  Are you a willing worker?  A persuasive speaker?  A cheerful teacher?  Make a list of your gifts, character traits, skills, habits and other things you bring to the table that can help move your cause forward.

Include unique talents and abilities.  One influential leader I know was famous for her home-made chocolates.  With fabulous flavors, fun packaging, and thoughtful notes, this leader created many thoughtful gifts.  Her culinary efforts were an important part of her superb team-building skills. 


Review Your Circle of Influence.  Stephen Covey taught that we each have a circle of concern (consisting of all the things we would like to be able to influence) and a circle of influence (consisting of the things we really can influence)  The paradox is that the more we focus on our circle of concern, the less influence we have.  On the other hand, the more we work within our circle of influence, the larger it grows, and the bigger the impact we can have on our circle of concern.  Don't worry if your circle of influence is small at first.  It will grow.


Decide If You Can Accomplish More Working on Your Own or With Others. 
If you're able to accomplish more working with others, identify who you know (or could meet) who has the most influence in the area(s) you are most interested in.  Contact them and offer to help.  Ask them how you can best support the cause.  Enlist the help of like-minded friends. 


Prayerfully Set Goals 

After you’ve taken time to carefully consider your  situation, use the information and insights you've gleaned to prayerfully set your goals.  Ask yourself, "What do I want to have happen?"  Write down what you want to accomplish.  Be specific.  Set measurable targets.  Review your goals often.  Refine them as needed.  This step gives you clearer vision, purpose, focus, and commitment.

Be sure to pray for God's guidance and help with your efforts.  Throughout our history, miracles have happened when ordinary people did their best and relied on God to help them when their own efforts were not enough.  


Create a Plan 

Your plan is your carefully-crafted, step-by-step map, that guides you from where you are to where you want to be.  It gives direction, commitment, and energy to your efforts.

The plan is where you pull everything together.  

• Give your plan a meaningful title.  
  
• Describe your purpose and values.
  
• Explain your goals.
  
• Create a timeline of measurable milestones.
  
• List the specific tasks you need to complete to reach the milestones, dividing them into easy-to-manage chunks.
• Document key information about schedule, resources, and budget.  

Implement Your Plan

Each week review your plan and prepare to meet your milestones.  

• Set goals for the week.  
  
• Set aside time on your calendar to complete the tasks.
  
• Each evening evaluate your day and plan the next day, listing specific tasks you will work on.
  
• Coordinate with family and team members as needed 

Record and Evaluate Your Efforts  

Keep a journal.  When God guides you, or answers your prayers in other ways, write about it in your journal.  This sacred record will be a great blessing and source of strength for you and your family.  

Keep a record of your efforts -- what you did and what the results were.  Write down and learn from your successes and failures.  Review your journal regularly.  Great people throughout history have tended to keep a journal.  Many believe the insight and refinement of thought they gained from writing in a journal was the secret of their success. 

Making a difference is a lifelong effort, but as you consider your situation, prayerful set goals, create and implement a plan, then evaluate your efforts, you will grow in your ability and influence, and leave a meaningful legacy for those you love!

Dr. Carson’s recent address at the National Prayer Breakfast was so engaging that you might have missed the powerful parenting lessons he shared.  

Here are four small things that made a big difference -- in Dr. Carson’s own words.


Believe in Your Children

“I was a horrible student. Most of my classmates thought I was the stupidest person in the world. They called me dummy. I was the butt of all the jokes. Now, admittedly, it was a bad environment. single-parent home, you know, my mother and father had gotten divorced early on.

“My mother got married when she was 13. She was one of 24 children. Had a horrible life, discovered that her husband was a bigamist, had another family. And she only had a third grade education. She had to take care of us. Dire poverty. I had a horrible temper, poor self-esteem. All the things that you think would preclude success. But I had something very important, I had a mother who believed in me. 


Never Make Excuses or Allow Your Children to Make Excuses

“And I had a mother who would never allow herself to be a victim no matter what happened. Never made excuses, and she never accepted an excuse from us. And if we ever came up with an excuse, she always said do you have a brain? And if the answer was, “yes,” then she said then you could have thought your way out of it. It doesn’t matter what John or Susan or Mary or anybody else did or said. And it was the most important thing she did for my brother and myself. Because if you don’t accept excuse, pretty soon people stop giving them, and they start looking for solutions. And that is a critical issue when it comes to success. 


Trust in the Lord and Pray For Wisdom 

“Well, you know, we did live in dire poverty, and one of the things that I hated was poverty. you know, some people hate spiders, some people hate snakes, I hated poverty. I couldn’t stand it. But, you know, my mother couldn’t stand the fact that we were doing poorly in school, and she prayed and asked God to give her wisdom, what could she do to to make her sons understand the importance of wisdom? 


Encourage Your Children to Turn Off the TV and Read Good Books

“God gave her wisdom. At least in her opinion. It was to turn off the TV, let us watch only two or three programs during the week, and read two books apiece and submit to her written book reports which she couldn’t read, but we didn’t know that.  She put check marks and highlights and stuff. But, you know, I just hated this. And my friends were out having a good time. Her friends would criticize her. they would say you can’t make boys stay in the house reading books, they’ll grow up and hate you. and I would overhear them and say, you know, mother, they’re right. but she didn’t care.

“You know, after a while, I actually began to enjoy reading those books because we were very poor, but between the covers of those books I could go anywhere, I could be anybody, i could do anything. I began to read about people of great accomplishment, and as I read those stories, I began to see a connecting thread. I began to see that the person who has the most to do with you and what happens to you in life is you. You make decisions. You decide how much energy you want to put behind that decision. And I came to understand that I had control of my own destiny. And at that point I didn’t hate poverty anymore, because I knew it was only temporary. I knew I could change that. It was incredibly liberating for me, made all the difference.”

Americans are still reeling from the election.  Many are wondering what went wrong, and why.  

How can so many people vote for a president whose policies are so destructive for our country?

What does our future hold when a large majority of young voters choose the guy who promises them the most free stuff from the government?

Never mind that government "freebies" can only be purchased with borrowed money from China -- money young Americans will have to repay sooner than they realize.  Young people chose what they thought was an easy handout, and they rejected the candidate who had the knowledge and skills to create the jobs they so desperately need.  Their decision will make future challenges much more formidable.

But who can blame them?  America's youth are immersed in principles and in practices that will destroy their liberty, peace, and prosperity.  In the public schools, on college campuses, in the entertainment they watch, and in the mainstream news media, they are deceived and entrapped

That isn't by accident.  Progressives have worked patiently and persistently to control our "most important cultural institutions. It took time, but the payoff has been huge."

Even now, some believe it's too late to save the rising generation.  But we have a significant advantage -- progressive policies don't work.  

If we patiently and persistently give our best effort, and rely on God when we fall short, we can win our young people back.  We must learn and live the principles and practices of liberty and share them with our families.  Our example may help our sons and daughters come to value the Constitution and the liberty it makes possible.    

It won't be easy -- almost everything in the culture is going the opposite direction.  But few endeavors are more important.  

How can we not give our best efforts -- our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor -- to preserve the priceless legacy of liberty we've been given?  "The price of liberty is eternal vigilance," and sometimes much more. Others have paid a staggering price for us.  Now it's our turn to toil and sacrifice so we can share this sacred gift with future generations.  

With the help of God, and with our very best efforts, Patriotic Moms and Dads can carefully convey our noble heritage to countless millions, just as patriots before us.  

That is our only hope.  Let's pray we're not too late!

"It's hard to imagine now, but before the birth of my first child, I had never held a baby. Not once, not in my entire life. No baby at home to tend, no niece or nephew to babysit. So you can imagine, the day my first boy was born I felt woefully unprepared.

"My mother took pity on me and stayed for two weeks, but that wasn't nearly enough time. As she was preparing to leave, I cried like I was the baby. I told her that I wasn't ready, that I had no idea what to do. In her smile I saw the truth. Ready or not, my son couldn't wait, and somehow, I would make it through.

"Of course, she was right. Some might say it was the mothering gene kicking in, the same one that every mom throughout history has possessed. Maybe. But I don't think so. I was a good mom because my own mom was the best.

"I suppose my mother was somewhat unusual for her time. At 30 she was — and expected she always would be — a career woman. She worked as a cosmetics rep and was happy in that job. She never expected to get married, but then she found the one man in all the world who could change her mind — my dad.

"The same passion she had for her work she poured into being a mother. I never lacked for confidence or a sense of self-worth. How could I when my mom seemed to think I had hung the moon? People would tell her, as people are wont to do with little girls, that she had a beautiful daughter. 'If only you knew," she would say, "how much more beautiful she is on the inside....'"

Read More: USA Today

Ann Romney's sons created a special Mother's Day video sharing favorite memories of their mom.  
Many of the wonderful things they say about Ann can also be said about moms across the country.
Hope you enjoy!

Many of you have heard of Stephanie Nielson.  A popular "Mommy Blogger," Stephanie was living the life of her dreams as a busy mom of four children when a horrific plane crash left her with agonizing burns on most of her body.  Pain became her constant companion, but buoyed by her faith, friends, and love of family, she fought her way back.

On April 30, 2012, Stephanie gave birth to Charlotte, a beautiful baby girl.  Here is what she wrote:

Being a mom can be the hardest job in the world. 

But it's also the best.

This video showing athletes from the London 2012 Olympic Games was made by Procter & Gamble to honor the many things moms do to help their children succeed. 

The hardest job in the world is truly the best job in the world!