Divine Nature Value Experience #3

Make your home life better. For two weeks make a special effort to strengthen your relationship with a family member by showing love through your actions. Refrain from judging, criticizing, or speaking unkindly, and watch for positive qualities in that family member. Write notes of encouragement, pray for this family member, find ways to be helpful, and verbally express your love. Share your experiences and the divine qualities you've discovered with that family member or with a parent or leader.

I realized that when I take some time to practice looking for positive qualities in others, it is so much easier to see their incredible potential. With that comes many more beautiful reminders that we are children of a loving Heavenly Father.

As we approach the end of each quarter during this graduate school experience, life seems to get more stressful. The weeks leading up to finals are filled with more stress for Dad, and he has much less time here with the family, so that makes me a little more stressed. When I take myself out of that equation and remember to take each day in stride, I can sit back and marvel at the feats Dave takes upon his shoulders. It has taken me several years of marriage to catch a little bit of a glimpse of the weight that rests on a father's shoulders to provide for his family. I know what we have to work with, and sometimes it isn't enough, but I also know we are doing what the Lord would have us do and I know things will work out. Not to say David needs to have more faith that things will work out. Feeling the necessity of providing for his family, as stated in "The Family: A Proclamation to the World", is by divine design. Just as mother's, as they worry about one of their children, have a need to always do more and frequently feel like they haven't done enough; that in some way, they could have nutured more, taught in a better way-father's have, at their core, the need to provide for and protect their families. Not only is the school work challenging, but I know this responsibility weighs heavily on David, particularly because there is not much he can do at this point. As I take time to think about and try to understand what he goes through, I have more patience and strength to do what I need to do for our family, to support him.

I think we can find this truth whenever we pay more attention to someone else and focus on their story. We forget ourselves and our needs and easily see divine attributes in others.

Divine Nature Value Experience #1

What are some of the divine qualities of a daughter of God? Read The Family: A Proclamation to the World; 2 Peter 1; Alma 7:23-24; and Doctrine and Covenants 121:45. In your own words, list the divine qualities discussed in your reading. Think about how you can discover and develop each of these qualities. Record your ideas in your journal.

2 Peter mentions the divine qualities of faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, charity. These are divine qualities, but the path to developing them is also line by line, precept by precept. Begin with faith to live by the example of Christ and find these qualities developed along the way.

I think that "easy to be entreated" in Alma 7:23 is a quality that people will find in you to be approachable, no matter the situation. Alma also reminds us to have a prayerful heart.

Doctrine & Covenants-as you try to live virtuously, your faith and trust that God is aware of all and guides your life will be strong. Not that He makes your decisions for you, but your heart will be more in tune with God as you make your choices. Anxiety about what life will bring is lessened and not a problem. You will have confidence that you are living the right way and all will be as it should.

As I increase my faith by prayer and scripture study, my life becomes more in tune with Him. I add virtue as a quality as well as to other qualities. The qualities of a daughter of God are very nurturing in nature. It seems natural for each of us to be a partaker of the divine nature. Something that may not make sense to some, but as you work to develop divine qualities, you realize how at home they are in you.

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.