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.