Happy Mother's Day

There are three women in my life that mean the world to me; my wife, my daughter and my mom. I have always struggled in the way that I treated/treat my mother. There is an Elvis song called “Always on My Mind.” The first few lines are;

“Maybe I didn't treat you
Quite as good as I should have
Maybe I didn't love you
Quite as often as I could have
Little things I should have said and done
I just never took the time”

Once when talking about this song my mom said, “Oh poor Elvis”. Sadly this song reminds me to try to treat my mom better than I did growing up, and try to be more of who I should be toward her now. The last thing that my Dad said to me was, “One day you will regret the way you treated me.” I cannot have that with my mother, and that simple song reminds me of that.

During the lowest times in my life my mom has always been there. “Jokingly” my mother has said that she will earn her crown in heaven solely because she is my mother. Sadly, that is probably true. If not it should be. I have probably put my mother through more than the rest of her kids combined. Mom, thank you and I love you for all that you have done and continue to do for me.

Sonya, the love of my life! At our wedding luncheon my brother Tyson asked, “How in the world did Loren get Sonya?” I still don’t know. Better yet, I don’t know how we are still married. I am a lucky guy! There are so many things that Sonya is not only good at but excels at. Most important, to me, is being a mother. I learn so much by the way Sonya is with the kids. How to be gentler, more loving, more respecting, more patient, more giving, more self-sacrificing, I could go on and on. Noah and Lyla love their mother so much not just inherently, but because of how she is with them.

Besides being a great mother, I couldn’t imagine a better wife. My life is simpler, runs more smoothly and is just flat out better for having married Sonya. It was the best decision of my life. Like my mom, Sonya will receive her crown, if for nothing else, because she is my wife. I love you will all my heart Sonya!

In my LDS faith, a husband and wife are not just married for time, but they are given the blessing to possibly be sealed for time and eternity, forever. This sealing is conditional. It must be sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise, and both the husband and the wife must want it to continue forever. The first part is dependent upon worthiness. The second is more of the way we interact together. I am still striving to be confident on both accounts. No goal is higher in my mind and heart than to be worthy of Sonya, both in her eyes and in God’s.

Next to my little Lyla Ryan, oh how I love her! She is still so young and we will hopefully have many more memories to make. But there couldn’t be a cuter little girl. Everything about her is perfect! She is always so bubbly, except when she is throwing her fits. But somehow you even make those adorable. The relationships with my mom and Sonya have helped me to understand the values that I wish to instill in her. I want to teach her that she is a daughter of our Heavenly Father, that she has a value greater than the world can offer. I want to help her understand the sacred nature of being a mother. Hopefully more of Sonya and my mom can rub off on Lyla and less of me. I love you Little Lyla Lady.

I truly have been blessed with magnificent women in my life. These three have been instrumental in softening my heart and knocking off rough edges to become smooth. I am becoming each day more and more the person I need to be and it is greatly attributed to them. Happy Mother’s Day to the mother of my children, to my mother, and to my daughter, a future mother, I love you all.