More than ever I have come to understand the role of a man and a woman, father and mother. When I first got married I felt more womanly than I ever had. There was something about having a man adore and love me and treat me like a woman. It made me feel more feminine. It helped me realize my divine role as a woman. We were married for a few years before we had a baby and in those few years I at times, questioned my role and at times, gained a better understanding of my role. Then our beautiful daughter was added to our family and our roles became significantly more important. We now had the stewardship, responsibility and privilege...to take care of her. To love her and teach her and provide her with a wonderful life. The first year of her life we were able to spend quite a bit of time together. We were able to share most of her firsts together and sharing parenthood was so special. Then a few months ago my husbands work intensified and now sometimes it feels like we hardly even see him. Parenthood quickly became me living it and him hearing about it (and of course, seeing tons of pictures and videos). At first, this was very difficult. I knew this stage would come. I had been trying to mentally prepare myself, but it was still hard. Motherhood was my greatest joy and I loved being home with our daughter and I loved sharing it with Rick. I knew all we needed was some time to transition into this new phase and it would be awesome, but during that time of transition I spent alot of time trying to figure out my role and his role and how we were to make it work best. 

My whole life I have believed in Family and that Family is First. I am SO grateful to be married to someone who feels the same. I have read over and over The Family Proclamation and believe in it with all my heart. I have never doubted my role as a woman and his as a man. To me, it all just makes sense. It just feels right. But over the past few months as my husband has been gone long days and lots of nights, I have thought about these roles more and more. I realized, he is gone because he is fulfilling his role. That is exactly what he should be doing. And that is what I want him to be doing. I realize it works a little differently for every family, but for ours, this is the path we have chosen and we have felt it is exactly where we should be. As for my role, I have thought a lot about the word Homemaker. I am the maker of a home. Of our home. When Rick and I got married I remember my dad telling us that we would now be the creators of a home. That it was our world to create. Back in 2008 President Uchtdorf gave an awesome talk in which he says, "But to what end were we created? We were created with the express purpose and potential of experiencing a fullness of joy. Our birthright - and the purpose of our great voyage on this earth - is to seek and experience eternal happiness. One of the ways we find this is by creating things."

As a mom, I am a creator. Not only a creator of life, but a creator of the world within our home. And though we share this role as husband and wife, mom and dad - as the mom, it is my main privilege and duty to create and provide a good 'world' for my little family. And there is nothing else I would rather be doing. There is nothing I find greater joy in. I am not only honored to be given this role, but I am happy each day I have to live it.