Day 4 Mentors

There are lots of people who have had an amazing impact on my life.  But I can think of a few that really stood out to give me a different perspective and helped along the way.  I feel really fortunate that almost everywhere we moved I have had amazing examples of motherhood and womanhood all around me.  

The first one that stands out is Valecia Green.  She lived in the Bronx with us.  Her husband Matt and Justin went to medical school together.  She was such a positive light there.  I love her so much because of her optimistic personality and the way she found joy and positivity in motherhood.  She was a great strength to me during this time and I adore her.  She has so much energy and the confidence to teach dance and preschool and run the school store so that they could make it through medical school.  She also taught me not to wait for my husband to go on little trips and adventures.  This was an important lesson because Justin was busy for so many years...we never would have done anything if we waited until he was available.  She would bring so much joy and fun to every time we were together and it was awesome.  I love her ambition and positivity and testimony of motherhood.  

The next mentor to me was Bonnie Bush.  Though we weren't particularly close, I admired her for her large family and the love and joy that they all obviously had for each other.  I found it fascinating watching how she had them give an hour of service everyday before they were allowed to go play.  She was able to get a lot of work out of her kids and they became amazing and productive adults.  She is amazingly patient and kind.  Qualities that I admire immensely.  

In Connecticut I had 2 mentors.  Heather Larsen and Alicia Broce.  These women are amazing.  Heather would always make sure she "took time to play everyday".  Which means take time to sew or paint because she is one of the most amazing artists I know.  It was a good reminder to me that if I want to grow in an area, I need to allow myself time to grow there and give myself permission to let some things go in order to practice the things that I want.  Alicia was just a wonderful example of a woman who could do anything she put her mind to.  I love her big love and kindness to our kids especially.  She was the one who made waffles at 3 am for all of the deacons so they could have a fun time together.  Such a wonderful mom with a solid testimony of Jesus Christ.  

In England I learned a lot from Sarah Moran and Sherrie Johnson.  Sarah amazed me with her organization.  I had a chance to do some volunteer work with her and was blown away by her ability to simplify and organize.  We bought food for the high school food truck and she had the grocery store down to a science with everything we needed in order.  It was amazing.  She was also able to clean out those vans and make executive decisions quickly and easily.  I really struggle with all of those skills.  It was refreshing to see someone make quick sound decisions and see how well everything went when she did that.  Sherrie taught me positivity again.  We went on several family trips with the Johnsons and she always had amazing positive things to say everywhere we went.  She would just stop and say things like "Can you believe we are in Paris?"  or "Isn't this so beautiful?"  She helps me just to enjoy the moment even if there are lots of kids and crazy going on she is able to help everyone feel peace and joy and positivity in every moment.  I love Sherrie for this and for teaching these things to me.   

I'm so grateful to all of these women.  I hope I can become like them all.