i love my mom

Mother's Day was on Sunday, and the Zylstra's had to speak. It was nerve racking, especially to be talking about mother's, when I'm not one, in front of other mothers. I think we did alright though, and it's always such a relief when you're finished! One of my favorite quotes that I based my talk on, came from Patricia Holland's talk, "Becoming Women of Greater Faith in Christ". I think this is a great talk for everyone to read.

As I tenderly acknowledge the very real pain that many single women, or married women who have not borne children, feel about any discussion of motherhood, could we consider this one possibility about our eternal female identity—our unity in our diversity? Eve was given the identity of “the mother of all living”—years, decades, perhaps centuries before she ever bore a child. It would appear that her motherhood preceded her maternity, just as surely as the perfection of the Garden preceded the struggles of mortality. I believe mother is one of those very carefully chosen words, one of those rich words—with meaning after meaning after meaning. We must not, at all costs, let that word divide us. I believe with all my heart that it is first and foremost a statement about our nature, not a head count of our children.

That last line ^^ is so powerful. Mother's Day isn't just for those that have already borne children. I know plenty of people, that I listed during my talk, who are motherly figures to me, that haven't had children, and probably never will. I then described what attributes mother's have, and how we can try to have those same attributes in our lives daily.

Then, I shared this story, and man, it makes my heart so happy. 

classy snapchat before we spoke.

as I've mentioned before, my parents moved. my sister's and i got a watercolor done of our old house, and i think it's beautiful! i loved seeing my moms reaction via video message too, because it was just how i imagined it! 

last week our friends started watching the new season of 24, and Tan had never seen it. i grew up watching it, and my mom actually just gave us the first 3 seasons. so, because we have never done the "season" thing, we decided to start watching it-we are already done. seriously, i loved having this be what our nights and weekend consisted of! we decided we can't start the second season until he takes the DAT though! 

I LOVE JACK BAUER.