Nobility in Womanhood.

I am a member of Relief Society. This is our theme. I really never took time to study it before. I did the other day and the words keep coming back to my mind.

We are beloved spirit daughters of God, and our lives have meaning, purpose, and direction . As a worldwide sisterhood, we are united in our devotion to Jesus Christ, our Savior and Exemplar. We are women of faith, virtue, vision, and charity who:
Increase our testimonies of Jesus Christ through prayer and scripture study.
Seek spiritual strength by following the promptings of the Holy Ghost.
Dedicate ourselves to strengthening marriages, families, and homes.
Find nobility in motherhood and joy in womanhood.
Delight in service and good works.
Love life and learning.
Stand for truth and righteousness.
Sustain the priesthood as the authority of God on earth.
Rejoice in the blessings of the temple, understand our divine destiny, and strive for exaltation.

Find nobility in motherhood and joy in womanhood. This is my favorite sentence right now. I think it's interesting that we have to find the nobility. And lately I feel like I have to try really hard to find it. I mean let's face it, how noble do you feel with at least 3 different bodily fluids somewhere on you by the end of the day, none of which are your own? How can I feel noble when I have baby food in my hair, am functioning on 5 hours of sleep, and haven't put on makeup in days? Womanhood doesn't feel very joyful when my hormones are raging from breastfeeding (or weening from breastfeeding) and the artificial hormones from the Mirena?

But then I think about my pregnancy with Olivia. How magical everything was. How elated I felt. That my body was creating another. That soon I would give birth. I would bring another person into this world. I tell ya, that feels pretty noble. Being able to nourish my child, even after she was born, seeing her grow, knowing she was thriving because of me... that was pretty joyful. Sometimes I need to remember those times. They get kind of lost among the less noble day to day of butt wiping.

But I'm realizing it's all noble and joyful. Not just for the cuteness, and the heartwarming moments of the day to day, but knowing I am raising a future generation. Heavenly Father is trusting me with these sweet little spirits. My mother-in-law has 8 amazing kids. She is always complimented on her kids and how wonderful they are. She told me she always gives the same response, "They came from Heaven that way, I'm just trying not to screw them up!" It made me laugh, but I think about that a lot. I am seriously just trying so hard not to screw them up!

Anyway this got kind of random. But really I am finding nobility in booger wiping, and joy in shrinking breasts. At least working on it. :)