Divine Nature Value Experience 2

As a young woman you are blessed with divine feminine qualities. Increase your understanding of and appreciation for womanhood. Read Proverbs 31:10-31 and two talks on womanhood from a conference issue of the Church magazines. Review what "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" says about being a wife and a mother. Then ask your mother or another mother you admire what she thinks are important attributes for being a mother. List the attributes in your journal. Then choose one of those attributes and strive to develop it. After two weeks report your success to a parent or leader.

I chose to read A "Mother Heart" by Julie B. Beck and Mothers and Daughters by M. Russell Ballard. I actually asked opinions of my Facebook friends what they thought were important attributes for a mother to have. I also asked my sisters (it's great having three of them) lessons they really learned from Mom. Friends listed the following attributes: patience, a sense of humor, unconditional love, organization, prioritizing (time, stuff, kids, activities), selflessness, multi-tasker, a strong testimony, and from our very funny RS President, children. My sisters talked about some I've mentioned before: If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all; If you don't like this stage, wait two weeks or a month, it will be something different; Everybody plays or nobody plays; I'm raising young ladies! and a few more timeless gems.

Although Robin's answer of "children" was funny to me, it made me pause and really think about how blessed I am to have four wonderful children. I have concentrated more on being grateful for each of their personalities and I have realized something in the last two weeks. In the stresses of life, I think I lost a lot of the sense of humor I, as a mother, need to have. Not that I'm a complete stick in the mud, but I think my children think I am a lot more stern sometimes than I really am and I've realized that it is probably because I don't laugh sometimes when I need to. A funny thing is happening as I remember to lighten up, I FEEL lighter too! Didn't realize loosing a sense of humor was a burden on my shoulders. Sometimes you don't realize what you had until it is almost gone ;)

Although there are many of the other important attributes for mothers I still need to work on, right now I am concentrating on loving my children for who they are and who they are becoming and laughing with them a lot more than they are used to. It feels great.

I love Elder Ballard's words, "Sisters, we, your brethren, cannot do what you were divinely designated to do from before the foundation of the world. We may try, but we cannot ever hope to replicate your unique gifts. There is nothing in this world as personal, as nurturing, or as life changing as the influence of a righteous woman." He also says, "As Ralph Waldo Emerson is believed to have said, 'What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say' (see Ralph Keyes, The Quote Verifier [2006], 56)."

I don't often get stressed about major events in our lives. I know the Lord will take care of it and everything will work out. But I realized my stress at home when life is crazy and there are a million things going on at once and everyone needs to talk to me about it at once was setting a poor example to my children. How will they ever learn to think about their future family life with joy if they can't see my joy in our family life? I'm pretty sure those stressful afternoons will often speak more loudly than a lot of the fun, stress-free experiences we also have. So. . .I work to change, and laugh a little more at the same time.

Faith Value Experience 3

Living gospel principles requires faith. Read about faith in the Bible Dictionary or True to the Faith. Faith in the Savior Jesus Christ leads to action. Choose a principle such as prayer, tithing, fasting, repentance, or keeping the Sabbath day holy. In your own home or another setting, plan and present a family home evening lesson about how faith helps you live that gospel principle. If possible, ask a family member to share an experience that has strengthened his or her faith. Share your own experiences as well. In your journal write down one of those experiences and describe your feelings about faith.

I discovered the words on faith in the Bible Dictionary many years ago. I think the definition is so well written and describes so well much of what I have learned for myself to be true. I had never read what True to the Faith says about faith. One of my favorite lines from that is, "Faith is much more than passive belief. You express faith through action - by the way you live." Something I was reminded of firsthand is stated there also, "You can nurture the gift of faith by praying to Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ. As you express your gratitude to your Father and as you plead with Him for blessings that you and others need, you will draw near to Him. You will draw near to the Savior, whose Atonement makes it possible for you to plead for mercy (see Alma 33:11). You will also be receptive to the quiet guidance of the Holy Ghost."

I decided to apply faith to the principle of fasting this past month and have continued to pray about what I had fasted about. My testimony of faith in our loving Heavenly Father has been tested lately and I have been reminded recently that sometimes the answers to our prayers will come about in ways unexpected to us.

As though to illustrate this point, I was checking up this morning on a friend of mine. Her husband was, at the age of 28, diagnosed with colon cancer. They began a blog specifically to update their friends and loved ones on his progress. Surgery was last week and they were able to remove all of the cancer. He states, "A miracle." But then he proceeds to outline the miracles that occurred so that they found the cancer in the first place, because let's be honest, what 28 year old would ever think he needed to be screened for colon cancer? A small illness that caused an infection that wouldn't go away, that turned into a really big infection that they couldn't get rid of. And on down the road in a very short amount of time.

He says, "A sinus infection saved my life. A sinus infection. Blessings in disguise are all around us. It has taught me not to jump so fast to decide things that happen to me are bad. Things that happen to us are for a reason. Sometimes we don't even know. This was obvious to me, which provides a great learning experience. An eye opener. Something to sink my teeth into. But subtle things in our lives may go unnoticed as blessings in disguise. Be careful what you are cursing over."

The road to answered prayers is rarely an easy one, but I testify that as we "nurture [our] gift of faith," we will be "receptive to the quiet guidance of the Holy Ghost" and that usually those answers come by way of someone else. We are His instruments to help one another along the way.