A new year, a new me?

I have been trying to think of a personal goal, for me, as a mother to work on through out this new year. I always have the main goals: read my scriptures more often, pray, have more patience with my family, eat healthier, exercise, work harder on a consistent FHE...those type of goals, but I needed a goal for me. A goal that I personally, as a wife and mother, could work on each day to better myself, and in turn better those around me.

Do you remember that part in the movie Gone with the Wind when Scarlet has just had her baby and is upset because Mammy can only get her corset laced up to 21 inches instead of her pre-pregnancy 19 inches?
Mammy tells her "Honey Child, you done had a baby, you ain't never gun be a 19 inches again"
I believe and think these are some of the wisest words of the entire show. These words keep going through my mind again and again.
My little Lilly, who is 5 months old, and my body is still not back to where it was before I had her, or before I was pregnant with her, I guess I should say. Even though, I quickly dropped my weight gain that I had during pregnancy (nursing works wonders to do that), but my body is still differnt. I'm sure you can't really tell, by just looking at me, but I know. My hips are a tad wider, my chest is more saggy, my core muscles aren't quite as tight, I constantly have bags under my eyes...and the list goes on.
I have to keep reminding myself "Meghan child, you done had FOUR babies. Your body ain't never gun a be the same again"
It has taken me lots of years to come to terms with it, but it is true. No matter how hard I try, my body is never going to be the same as it was before I had my precious babies. My children are literally parts of myself and they exist because my body sacrificed blood, cells, calcium, iron, and a million other things to helpt them grow and develop. I am literally missing pieces of my body that I will never be ablet og et back because they are now walking, talking, breathing, laughing, crying, and living in the form of FOUR beautiful, precious children. Becoming a mother, even if you don't physically give birth to a child, requires a HUGE sacrifice from your body and your spirit. It is a sacrifice, that according to Elder Bruce C Hafen and his wife Marie K Hafen, greatly paralles the sacrifice made by our savior, they said
"Just as a mothers body may e permanetly marked with the signs of pregnancy and childbirth, the savious said "I have graven upon the palms of my hands (1 Ne. 21:15-16). For both a mother and the Savior, those marks memorialize a wrenching sacrifice, the sacrifice of begetting life, for her, physical birth; for him, spiritual rebirth"
It gives me strength to remember that just as Christ bears marks in his hands, feet and side as symbols of his blood sacrifice; I too have marks that bear testimony to my sacrifice of blood and my willigness to bring life into the world. I find strength to go forward with my mothering by remembering that just as Christ's body was resurrected, making him complete physically and spiritually, that my body is constantly renewing itself, and that one day, I too, will be complete, physically, and spirtually. I also know that my joy is more full, because of my sweet babies, and because of the sacrifice I have made, life will go forward and my family will go on eternally.
So for all you mothers out there, I offer this goal. Remember to rejoice in your stretch marks, or bags under your eyes, your wider hips, your love handles....be grateful for your extra weight, accept your c-section scar, and find joy in your tired bags under your eyes, and remember they are a symbol of sacrifice.
And for all you women who are struggling with loving and accepting who you are. I want to remind you that anything or anyone that belittles, exploits, demeans, or mistrusts your body, is not from God. Your body is beautiful and mind boggling. It so deeply symbolizes Christ. Also remember in the eternal perpective of things Frankly my dear, no one will give a damn if you had a 19 inch waist or not :)