Motherhood Monday - Righteous Rearing

I haven't done a Motherhood Monday in a while, but I came across a quote this past weekend that really struck me.

It is found in Chapter 1 - The Great Commandment - Love the Lord from Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Ezra Taft Benson.

Here's the quote:

"You mothers, who are especially charged with the righteous rearing of the youth of Zion, are you not putting God first when you honor your divine calling? … Our mothers put God first when they fill their highest mission within the walls of their own homes."

• My take away from this quote: 
• Motherhood is accomplished by honoring our divine calling to righteously rear our children. When we do this, we put the Lord first in our lives. 
• 
  
• My Thoughts:
• First, it hit me that like any other calling or role we have, we all carry it differently.  Every "calling" in our church is left to the individual to magnify and fulfill according to their own training, ability and conscience. Motherhood is no exception.

Now, I'm not suggesting that anyone should use this as an excuse to disregard their sacred responsibilities concerning their family.  I just mean to point out that as long as we are striving to do our best to teach and nurture our children (notice I said striving here - there are always bad days/weeks), we don't need to worry about how anyone else is mothering.

Second, I like the term "righteous rearing".  Righteous rearing takes on a different form for different women. Righteousness, in some cases, is based on understanding and knowledge. Righteous rearing would indicate that we ourselves are striving to stay in tune with our Heavenly Father to receive specific guidance for ourselves, our children and our collective family.  The term righteous rearing enables individual adaptation of this divine role, instead of a one-size-fits-all Motherhood mentality.