Pioneers: Old and New

I’m a day late. I was on vacation and the month of July has flown by. Anyone else feeling incredibly behind? There was so much I planned to get done this summer, but it seems the weekly house cleaning is a challenge to accomplish and more often than not I’m checking email via phone. Really, I can’t even get to the computer every day. What is sucking up all my time?

Well, I know the answers to that, but I’m not going to list them. The idea makes me anxious and stressed. And who needs that in summertime?

I’ve been reflecting on what to say. 

Thursday was Pioneer Day, an important cultural day in my religion. This is the day the LDS entered the Salt Lake Valley after crossing the plains for months on end, daily dealing with lack of food, lack of sleep, illness, and the occasional pause to bury a loved one in a too shallow grave. Their daily sacrifice was far more than what I’m called on to give each day and puts my ‘to do’ list (write this blog post and publish my next book) in pathetic perspective with theirs: survive and endure to the end.

So, why would the Pioneers undertake such an arduous, back breaking, and heartbreaking journey? Because God told them to is the short answer, but I believe it has to be something more than that. To undertake leaving a comfortable home and your possessions behind you’d have to have an incredible amount of faith along with the hope and belief that something even better awaited you at the end. I couldn't do as the Pioneers did. But then, they might look at my life and think they can’t do what I do. They might appreciate that they lived in a simpler time when life was all about family, running the farm, and wholesome living. I’m sure they’d be grateful for indoor plumbing and running water, but what would they make of our cars, electronics, obesity and the decision to forcefully unplug to spend time with our loved ones? Quite the conundrum.

So, what does all that have to do with mothers and authors? Well, really not much. Except, both motherhood and writing require sacrifice, are back breaking and heartbreaking, and push you past your limits, sometimes to the breaking point. Yet, we persevere and endure to the end because we believe there is something amazing awaiting us and we believe we will be better people for the journey when we arrive at the destination point.

So, here’s the Pioneers and to all of us who make journeys great and small, sacrifice, and give our very best to make a better life for all our families.

What Pioneers in your life will you celebrate?