"... how oft will I gather you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings..." (3 Nephi 10:6)

This past week my parents paid for their family members that lives close by them to all go to Lagoon, an amusement park. It has kind of become a family tradition. It is a lot of fun to spend time with family, cousins, in-laws, children; these have become my friends. I enjoy the time we spend together. In a way, it is a gathering of our family. We create memories and binding relationships. Our son, Slade, could hardly wait to get there to be with his cousins. My mother has a great way of gathering her family around her. She has taught me, through her actions, the truth of this statement from the family proclamation: "Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities" (The Family: A Proclamation to the World). Being together as a family at Lagoon, for me, has become a "wholesome recreational activity". What great memories we have created through the years.

Interestingly, this particular visit to Lagoon there was a mother peahen (a female peacock) walking around with her baby peachicks. She had three peachicks. The peahen was very attentive and protective of her little ones. That evening, as we were headed back to the pavilion to gather our children to leave, there upon the roof of a small cabin was the mother peahen with her three peachicks all tucked under her! It was an incredible sight to see how she had gathered them for the night. I haven't figured out how she got them on top of the roof, but they were all there. It made me think of this scripture when the Savior says: "O ye house of Israel whom I have spared, how oft will I gather you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, if ye will repent and return unto me with full purpose of heart" (3 Nephi 10:6).

Slade, Lara, Ethan, and Stockton. How I love my children and want to gather them oft! 

(from left to right) Stockton, Slade, Lara, Ethan, Grandpa Bonney, Grandma Bonney, me, and Jeff. So grateful for a matriarch that gathers us often and in love!

My beautiful daughter, Lara, and me. It was so good to see her!

Me with the love of my life, Jeffrey.

Grandma and Grandpa Bonney waiting for the train. So grateful they gather us and help us create great memories.

This is the mother peahen with two of her peachicks. The chicks look like rocks. They are more at the front, look closely and you will see them.

This is the mother with her chicks on a roof of a small cabin. You can see all three chicks: one has it's head tucked in and you just see its tail feathers, and you can see the heads of the other two.

Christ does and is gathering us. As we listen and follow the promptings of His Spirit and our prophet, we will be led and protected in our daily lives. It doesn't mean we won't have challenges, or difficult days. But for me, I know I will have peace, joy, and be filled with the calmness I need a midst the storms of life. Christ is calling us, gathering us to Him physically and spiritually. What a blessing to follow Him and receive His protection and guidance, just as this peahen protected her little ones, and as my mother has continued to gather us and lead her family by example.

"How oft will I gather you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings" (3 Nephi 10:6)

I have to admit that I have often wondered if being a mother is enough. I do a lot of cooking, a lot of laundry, a lot of driving children all over, to, and from places. I do a lot of things that get absolutely no praise or thanks, but a lot of exhaustion at the end of the day. Pondering this roll of motherhood, the powerful doctrine that all women are mothers whether they have had children or not is taught as Eve was called the "mother of all living" before she gave birth to children  (Genesis 3:20; Moses 4:26). It is more than just cooking, driving, doing laundry and all the mundane things that seem to crowd out some of the power that comes with doing these essential tasks that keep a family going, that make a house a home and a group of people a family. Let me try and explain through a personal experience this week.

I usually am pretty good at making dinner and making sure we eat together as a family. This week, one day I failed to plan and when I got home from a meeting that had been for our children, it was already dinner time. I decided we would have leftovers or everyone could have cereal. Everyone was fine with this. My request was that we eat together. Well, time went by and family members got their various food options and proceeded to eat them as they heated up, or completed whatever task they were working. We didn't eat together. I was kind of bummed that we missed out on that family time. I don't know if anyone else noticed, but I did. There was no gathering.

As a mother, meal time, cooking, even if it is just cold cereal, is about gathering. Gathering is an essential doctrine that Christ teaches. "O ye house of Israel who I have spared, how oft will I gather you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, if ye will repent and return unto me with full purpose of heart" (3 Nephi 10:6 (4-6), D&C 10:65, Luke 13:34). Christ gathers His covenant people, His children, "as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings". As a mother, I gather my family each night around our dinner table to protect and strengthen my loved ones. Elder Dallin H. Oaks, an apostle of the Lord, taught this about gathering together for dinner: "The number of those who report that their whole family usually eats dinner together has declined 33 percent. This is most concerning because the time a family spend together eating meals at home is the strongest predictor of children's academic achievement and psychological adjustment. Family mealtimes have also been shown to be a strong bulwark against children's smoking, drinking, or using drugs. There is inspired wisdom in this advice to parents: what your children really want for dinner is you" (Good, Better, Best).

Gathering is part of my role as a mother. It's not just about cooking or cleaning. But about gathering my loved ones about me, just as Christ gathers His loved ones, "For, behold, I will gather them as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, if they will not harden their hearts; Yea, if they will come, they may, and partake of the waters of life freely" (D&C 10:65-66). The roll of a mother is enough and so much more. The world just doesn't see it as He does, and as I am continuing to learn to see and cherish. Gathering, this I testify, is part of the power, strength, and responsibility of being a mother.