President’s Corner: Motherhood as the Training Ground for Peacebuilding

This month, I find myself reflecting on motherhood and am flooded with memories of my own transition into motherhood nine years ago. Since then my husband and I have joyfully welcomed three children into our family unit, and continue to grow in our parenting. Like most mothers-to-be, I spent many months preparing for motherhood, making sure we had all the supplies we needed and had done all the research required. But just like every first time mom out there, I soon realized no level of preparation could fully equip me for this new role. 

Motherhood, while beautiful and profound, is an experience that thrusts you into a fully selfless state. Even during pregnancy, your body no longer serves you alone, but also the precious life form growing inside of you. When our little ones enter the world they are so helpless and needy. Despite the great efforts of the fathers and grandparents in our lives, most of the time it is the Mother alone who can meet the needs of that newborn baby. These experiences tie us to our children in ways that are impossible to describe. This is what we mean when we say our children are a part of us. We have forged a forever bond that cannot be broken.

I believe this is the way our Creator designed it and why Mothers are such a gift… rather why they are such a force in this world. From the moment we become Mothers we have been forever awakened to the needs of our children that compels us to serve and love unconditionally. Although there are certainly painful moments when raising our children, nothing could stop us from loving them from the bottom of our hearts. This training ground and the experience of motherhood is truly a solution to so much of the turmoil in our world. If the skills of love, patience and perseverance could truly be welcome at the global leadership level, I’m confident many of the problems of our world could be healed.

Motherhood comes in all shapes and sizes: whether they are with us in spirit, whether they birthed us, or whether they filled that space in our lives. These are the women who formed us, who raised us, who empowered us and who are proud of us. I am so grateful to have Mothers and Mother-figures in my life, to be a Mother and to be raising future Mothers. Happy Mother’s Day to you and your loved ones!