Angel Mothers

Who are the most influential women in your life?

Abraham Lincoln talked about all that he is or ever was, he owes to his angel mother. Or something like that. For me its a group of women that call themselves "girl night" gals. When I am with them, no topic is off-limits; with discussions ranging from children, schedules, church, school, sports, boobs, food, current church talks and quotes from our prophet. Some women have 7 children and some have two. All of them try so, so hard to find and follow Heavenly Father's directions for them and their family. They are a colorful, POWERFUL circle of women that hold me up. The women who have simply loved me, in large and small ways that have left a lasting imprint:

Naomi: has helped me walk with a kinder cadence and kept me posted on swine-flu shot availability.

Kelli: her careful use of language, peaceful personality, and optimistic, generous nature have always drawn me to her. She’s the type of person that dispels darkness and fills anything she touches with light and love. She is someone I will see in heaven (if I make it there).

Olivia:  I don’t know that I can name something she HASN’T done for me. She has watched my children, photographed birthday parties, shopped for me, weeded my garden, pulled me up from my weeping, gut-wrenching depths of despair with her beautiful song, like Christ had sent a spiritual mentor to help strengthen my feeble knees and heal my broken heart. Everybody needs an Olivia.

Laurie: she’s constantly moving, cooking, learning and working (she’s selling her own art program these days). Unfailingly devoted in her membership, one of my earliest memories of her is watching her give her talk in sacrament meeting with her little pregnant belly. I could listen endlessly to her stories about her babies, rocking Weston and when her high school boyfriend was pursuing her. She walked with me daily and is a jewel in my life.

Heidi: with her voracious reading, she encouraged, inspired, and prodded me to enjoy reading, writing and life-long learning. She breathed life into every morning when we would meet at 6 a.m. for our daily run. She is a wry, witty, tiny knot of a woman. A friend who pretty much knows everything about me. She is someone I could literally call on in any crisis (and believe me, I have) or just to talk.

Nicole: she has been pivotal in helping me be more honest in my life, consistent in my temple attendance (every Wednesday for a year she would meet me at the temple at 5:30 a.m. for initiatory), patient with my children, and passionate in my church calling. Along with all her mentoring, she has been generous and magical in showing up at just the right moment with the perfect note, book, gift card, or lunch date invitation. A three time cancer survivor, but is still so pleasant to be around. It's happy conversation with her week after week when we go to lunch. She only remembers the good parts of her life–all else has gone away.

Carol: she has seen me at my worst and loved me anyway. Who met me as a mixed up new age spiritualist and helped love me back to the gospel. Just being with her, knowing her, talking with her, changes me and I am forever better for it.

A long time ago I saw a documentary about Mother Theresa, the nun who earned the Nobel Peace Prize back when actions spoke louder than words.  I remember wanting to give my life to some greater cause, but she believed that “we can do no great things, only small things with great love.”

Mother Teresa once cleaned the hut of a lonely man. An unlit lamp sat in his hut. When she asked why he sat in darkness, he replied, “Nobody comes here.” She promised to have the sisters visit him if he would promise to light the lamp. Later he sent a message: “Tell my friend, the light she lit in my life is still burning!”

The light my spiritual mentors have lit in my life is still burning. In my little world, no one is more powerful and influential than these devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. All of them and many, many more are my angels.

This September I want to remember the wonderful women in my life. Tell me a story about one of the angels in your life. Why are you grateful for her?