Joy in WHAT? - THE SOLUTION

I had an apostrophe. Lightning has just struck my brain.
Okay, I had an epiphany. There was no lightning. It was during one of my frequent scripture study sessions with my baby bro. We study the discussions out of the Preach My Gospel manual, and the topic for the day was the Priesthood and Auxiliaries. I pulled out my handy dandy True to the Faith book, and looked up Relief Society. The main reference was the Relief Society Declaration - which is like our Young Women's Theme, right? As a quick refresher, here it is:

We are beloved spirit daughters of God, and our lives have meaning, purpose, and direction. As a worldwide sisterhood, we are united in our devotion to Jesus Christ, our Savior and Exemplar. We are women of faith, virtue, vision, and charity who:

-Increase our testimonies of Jesus Christ through prayer and scripture study.

-Seek spiritual strength by following the promptings of the Holy Ghost.

-Dedicate ourselves to strengthening marriages, families, and homes.

-Find nobility in motherhood and joy in womanhood.

-Delight in service and good works.

-Love life and learning.

-Stand for truth and righteousness.

-Sustain the priesthood as the authority of God on earth.

-Rejoice in the blessings of the temple, understand our divine destiny, and strive for exaltation. 

It's nice, right? But as I am scanning through it I grimace when I hit the joy in motherhood part. But wait - that's not what it says!!!!

Joy in WOMANHOOD and NOBILITY in Motherhood.

And there's the answer. 

I can find joy in womanhood. I am thankful everyday that I am not a man. I sooo have that covered.

But what about the "nobility" in motherhood? What does "nobility" mean? 

According to Merriam-Webster, nobility is "the quality or state of being noble in character, quality, or rank". 

Wikipedia says: "Nobility is a state-privileged status which is generally hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be largely honorary...". 

And Answers.com says "The state or quality of being exalted in character". 

Synonyms include dignity, exaltation, virtue, worthiness, uprightness, glorification, glory, stupendousness  

What queen or king loves every part of their job? There are a lot of less than joyful moments. But they do it because it's their job, their inherited position. And a true queen does it with grace. And isn't our goal to be exalted in character? One of my favorite conference talks was given by Elder Richard G. Scott. It was in October 2010, and called "The Transforming Power of Faith and Character". I believe that it would cover the "exalted in character" bit.

So there we go. My epiphany is: I am not asked to have joy in motherhood. I should have joy in the fact that I am a woman and therefore CAN be a mother. I should approach motherhood with dignity, virtue, and stupendousness. Do the best dadblamed job I can, even when I want to throw a temper tantrum and scream "IT'S NOT FLIPPIN FAIR!!!"

And what a relief I feel. I can enjoy the good moments. I don't have to enjoy it all.  I will strive to be a exalted mother, and do it with as much dignity as I can muster when my kids are screaming about my body size and shape in the dressing room of a busy department store. I don't have to find joy in that. THAT brings me joy. I close with one of my favorite quotes:

"Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he has been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just like people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, and most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is just like an old time rail journey ... delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."
— Jenkin Lloyd Jones