*This post I wrote for AlwaysSomethingtoTalkAbout.com but we are taking that site down and I wanted to save it!

Growing up I noticed something with my mom who had five little kids, myself being the oldest. She sure didn’t like when people called her JUST a Stay at Home Mom. I don’t think I understood it, but I loved her a lot and it made me sad that she would sometimes feel very down on herself when someone said that to her.

Until I became JUST a Stay at Home Mom after having my two little girls right in a row.  Even though I knew it was the right thing for my family, it brought a weird aspect of shame. It’s that JUST word, I don’t know why it’s attached to Stay at Home Mom. Being a SAHM or a working mom or a work from home mom or a part time working mom or whatever it may be…the MOM part is the most important part of any sentence and that’s where my dreams are focused. And when I am doing the right thing for my family and the right things as a mom, the discovery part comes in. The dreams, aspirations, goals that are right for myself and my family are very apparent to me when I am doing the MOM part right (or trying to at least).

But then I accidentally got a very full time career as a blogger, social media consultant and running an online membership site. Suddenly I became a working mom in a field that is really quite hard to explain to others. But I STILL find myself JUST wanting to be a really good mom.  That word JUST took on a whole new meaning to me; it was something that didn’t have any shame at all.

There should be no shame in being a stay at home mother, and more and more my heart, passion and dreams are being focused there.  I also work on balancing being a working Mom who some days of the week has way too many meetings and some days of the week I get to do all of my work at home.

I am not sure why society puts shame on a woman who sacrifices for her family in staying home. Or those that work their tails off all week long to provide for their family and make the decision to spend every extra moment they have spending time being a mom.

Motherhood is a divine calling that involves sacrificing for our children, being a supportive spouse and also developing ourselves personally. I am just thankful that I have been able to embrace my goals and dreams that come through careful planning, learning to trust myself and listening to answers to prayers.

This “Accomplishing Your Dreams,” “Growing as a Woman,” “Taking Enough Time for Yourself,” “Putting Motherhood First,” is a subject I am constantly having to “check in” and “re-evaluate” all the time. Sister Julie B. Beck gave a wonderful talk this past weekend during General Conference that was a big “AH-HA!” moment for me.

“How does one increase faith, strengthen families and provide relief? How does a woman in our day find answers to her own questions and stand strong and immovable against incredible opposition and difficulty? A good woman knows that she does not have enough time, energy or opportunity to take care of all of the people or do all of the worthy things her heart years to do. Life is not calm for most women and each day seems to require the accomplishment of a million things most of which are important. A good woman must constantly resist the luring and deceptive message from many sources telling her that she is entitled to more time away from her responsibilities and that she deserves a life of greater ease and independence. But with personal revelation she can prioritize correctly and navigate this life confidently. The ability to quality for, receive and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life.

Revelation can come hour by hour and moment by moment as we do the right things. When women nurture as Christ nurtured a power and peace can descend to guide when help is needed.

Personal Revelation gives us the understanding of what to do every day to increase faith and personal righteousness, strengthen families and homes, and seek those who need our help.

Promised personal revelation comes when we ask for it, prepare for it and go forward in faith trusting that it will be poured out upon us.

We know we are successful if we live so that we quality for, receive and know how to follow the Spirit. When we have done our very best we may still experience disappointments but we will not be disappointed in ourselves. We can feel certain that the Lord is pleased when we feel the Spirit working through us. Peace, joy and hope are available to those that measure success properly.

The Lord depends on his daughters to do their part to strengthen the homes of Zion and build his kingdom on the Earth. As they seek and qualify for personal revelation the Lord will pour out his Spirit upon his handmaids in these Latter Days.”

So, in short, using Personal Revelation as Julie B. Beck talked about, and focusing my dreams on my most important divine calling, motherhood, is how I discover my dreams!

Dream #1

Dream #2

Dream #3

Looks like I am doing good so far!