Mothers Need to Know That God Loves Them

We, as God's daughters need to know that Heavenly Father loves us. We need to know that He sees the good in us. Feeling His love encourages us to press forward, reassures us that we are His, and confirms to us that He cherishes us even when we stumble and experience temporary setbacks.[Bonnie D. Parkin, September 23 2006- General Relief Society Meeting]

Bonnie D. Parkin testifies: "I know that He loves us, sisters, as does His Son, Jesus Christ. That love will never change - it is constant. You can rely on it. We can trust it. We must believe that the love of Christ will never fail us. All that we do...should reflect the love of our Saviour and the love of our Heavenly Father. This great love should be the source of our motivation to serve others. It must be both our point of origin and our destination!"

Do we frequently reject the Lord's love that He pours out upon us in much more abundance than we are willing to receive? Do we think that we need to be perfect in order to deserve His love? When we allow ourselves to feel "encircled about eternally in the arms of His love", we feel safe, and we realize that we don't need to be immediately perfect. We must acknowledge that perfection is a process..[Bonnie D. Parkin, September 23 2006- General Relief Society Meeting]

I know there may be some who have a difficult time imagining what His love feels like. Think of a mother with her newborn baby. The warmth, safety, cherishing, and peace of a mother's embrace can help us understand what it feels like to be encircled in the arms of His love.[Bonnie D. Parkin, September 23 2006- General Relief Society Meeting]

A young adult Relief Society sister wrote, " Only in the love of my mother do I come close to understanding the magnitude and power of the love of the Savior."

Mothers, can you see how essential you are in teaching this truth to your children? As you encircle your children with your love, they will catch glimpses of His love. [Bonnie D. Parkin, September 23 2006- General Relief Society Meeting]

President Gorden B. Hinckley urges us to "love the Lord [our] God, and love His Son, and be ever grateful for Their love for us. Whenever other love fades, there will be that shining, transcendent, everlasting love of God for each of us and the love of His Son, who gave His life for us.

A mother who knows her relationship with God helps her children to know Him and to be encircled by His love. I was touched by the comments a daughter shared at the funeral of her 100-year-old mother: "When I was a teenager trying to plan my class schedule, I would come into the kitchen where Mother was ironing. I would present possible options for my studies...She would listen to all of them. We would discuss the possibilities...and then she would say, 'OK, Cathy, have you prayed about it?' That was kind of embarrassing to me, and i would hesitate and then add, 'Do you have to pray about everything?' She answered simply, 'I do'. [Bonnie D. Parkin, September 23 2006- General Relief Society Meeting]

This mother listened. She shared her faith in the Lord; she set an example; she shared her expectations for her daughter to return continually to the Lord. As we approach the Lord, we feel His love draw us closer. Mothers, teach your children to always include the Lord in their lives, and help them to recognize His loving influence..[Bonnie D. Parkin, September 23 2006- General Relief Society Meeting]

The greatest evidence of our Savior's love for us is His Atonement. His love overflows with grace, patience, long-suffering, mercy, and forgiveness. [Bonnie D. Parkin, September 23 2006- General Relief Society Meeting]

We must not allow pride or vanity, selfishness or personal agendas to displace our reaching out to others in love. Quite simply and profoundly, we must first allow ourselves to be encircled by God's love. We do this best by embracing the Savior's eternal Atonement. Then we can expand that circle to include our family and all others. Such a circle is indeed heaven. [Bonnie D. Parkin, September 23 2006- General Relief Society Meeting]