Mormons and Motherhood

Recently my faith-a lot of our faiths-have been under heavy scrutiny because of this presidential election.  I've encountered a lot of anti-Mormon anti-Romney anti-woman "stuff". Malarkey.  Granted, not many of those people read my blog, but there are a LOT of people who do read that may question their role as a Mormon woman. My goal is to share what I've learned about myself on this front.
    One of the things I've heard is that Mitt doesn't respect women because his church doesn't respect women. Apparently Mormon men pressure women to be nothing more than baby-making machines.  Let me make this clear: My faith teaches, first and foremost, AGENCY.  EVERY member of my church has a choice in every single decision they make, and in ANY aspect of their lives. Yes, I did choose to be a stay-at-home mother. No one told me to be one. Not my husband, not my mother, not my bishop. I choose my life. When I became pregnant I made the decision that I would do the job that I felt was best for every person in my family, myself included.
   I'm fortunate that I have the option to go without pay.  Not all women have that choice, and I'm so lucky that I do. There are also a lot of Mormon women who have the option to stay home, but choose not to. That is just as admirable as my decision, and deserves just as much respect.
  I made a decision to commit my whole self to the raising, rearing, nurturing, and teaching of my family inside my home. I'm here to tell you that any woman who makes that choice should NEVER EVER be made to feel that they aren't living up to their potential. Being at home with my kids is HARD and it's WORK and I WORK HARD AT IT, and I'm DANG GOOD AT IT! The choice that women make to stay home to raise their children commands respect. I hope any woman who has ever felt sheepish about saying that they stay home will realize that being a successful woman isn't to be determined by anyone but themselves.
   Women who work outside the home, women who don't have children, women who pursue high levels of education, AND women who decide to stay home with children are strong, powerful, influential, and important.  My faith-our faith- has many women in every one of these categories, and most in more than one of them.  We all have a choice. We all deserve respect.