New Mother, Daughter, and Niece

When this photo was shared with me yesterday, I was struck by the expressions an the three faces. The young mother on the left, XX, is preparing for the upcoming blessing by the elders of the church of her firstborn, YY. The little girl standing next to XX and her daughter is XX’s cousin, ZZ. For ZZ, this day sharing in XX’s motherhood joy will be worth more than a half dozen Sunday lessons on motherhood. But ZZ is too young for this day to stay a specific memory. It will form the background of things she has always known. This day will have to be built upon with future experiences like this one. And since truths must be taught by precept and by example, a couple dozen Sunday lessons on motherhood will be a valuable way to explicitly bring the meaning of her experiences to the fore, felt and also thought about intelligently.