Week 14? Can you believe we’ve been at it that long? Welcome back to GCBC. Coincidentally, this talk ties in quite nicely with yesterday’s long-overdue post about Sister Beck’s Women’s Conference Talk. During the Sunday morning session of General Conference, Sister Barbara Thompson, Second Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency, spoke about the three directives that help us fulfill our divine role as women and how to implement them more fully in our lives.
Give me a break. Summer’s busy. I know I’ve been promising this post since May, and I’m just proud I’m finally actually getting around to it. Trust me, a finished project is a victory no matter the delay.
I attended Women’s Conference at Brigham Young University in May, and while I learned many things that were great and uplifting, the highlight for me was the talk given by Sister Julie Beck, General Relief Society President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I know my personal opinion has no bearing on the efficacy of her teachings, but I really like Sister Beck. She is spunky, kind, and speaks truth without fear. Plus (with all due respect) she is the first General Relief Society President in generations that has dared to not have this haircut:
Isn’t she lovely?
Anyway, when I heard her talk, and it affected me the way that it did, I thought to myself, “This is why I came.” She did not say anything that I have not heard taught before, but the cohesiveness and clarity of her message brought me a deeper insight in the doctrine of the family, and a greater understanding of my practical role in it. Loved her talk. (Here is a link to watch her whole talk, entitled “Nourishing and Protecting Home and Family.” It is worth watching.)
From, my notes, here are some highlights:
There are three things that she has felt strongly that women need to do to fulfill their divine role:
Increase faith and personal righteousness.
Strengthen family and homes.
Seek out and help those with needs.
She focused her talk on the doctrine of the family: The Doctrine of family is defined in the Proclamation on the family.
The Plan of Salvation includes the theology of family, as seen in the 3 pillars of the gospel of Jesus Christ:
The Creation– families were formed under God’s direction
The Fall– provided means for family to grow and develop faith
The Atonement– opportunity for eternal growth and restoration.
Marriage is ordained of God, an order of the Priesthood, and necessary to see the face of God and live.
The natures of male and female spirits complete each other.
Both are needed to bring and raise children.
Some scriptural examples of the doctrine of the family and threats to it:
Doctrine and Covenants 2: This is the 1st revelation (chronologically) included in the Doctrine and Covenants; it points to the temple.
Ephesians 6:12 We wrestle against spiritual wickedness (“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”)
Alma, chapter 1: Nehor started the doctrine about “me”– this philosophy is a threat to the family that is about “us/we.”
Alma, chapter 30: Korihor, the “anti-Christ” repeated many of these same philosophies. He was not original or clever; these doctrines were pirated from Satan and other failed leaders.
Anti-Christ principles are always anti-family, and, likewise, anti-family principles are always anti-Christ.
She quoted Spencer W. Kimball, who boldly declared the doctrine as it pertained to traditional family vs. non-traditional families (talk worth reading):
“… Many of the social restraints which in the past have helped to reinforce and to shore up the family are dissolving and disappearing. The time will come when only those who believe deeply and actively in the family will be able to preserve their families in the midst of the gathering evil around us.”
We must preserve our families against gathering evil. We must focus on and prepare our families for blessings of eternal life.
We have to be intentional about everything we do. (This is the part that stood out to me so much, and I felt a strong pull to pay attention to this and apply it in my own life.)
She told a story about her father and her mother sitting down during their honeymoon and setting goals for their family and for their children. What did they want them to accomplish? They made intentional steps to work toward temples, missions, education, work, etc., and then they used those goals to develop the culture of their family. They created a “Personalized Family Plan.”
She reminded us that the commandment to bear children is still a commandment, and that we are still in the “business of creation.”
She touched upon the plague of pornography and stated that she has pondered much about this problem and tried to understand what the role of the women of the Church is in this challenge, and said that her clear impression has been: “Fight! Fight pornography and defend our homes.” I wish I convey the spirit in which she made that challenge and how moving it was. It actually brought much of the audience to spontaneous applause.
The following were some of her concluding suggestions and reminders to consider as we become intentional parents in gospel-based homes:
Limit activities, and use time to teach. Talk, teach, ask questions.
Family Home Evening is so important– interruptions should be avoided. We must prepare our families for the challenges to come.
Sacrifice your life (mom) for their good.
You can’t drive them or force them. Only correct in kindness and love, and persuasion. Make homes based on love.
Husbands need to be loved also. (D&C 25) Be a comfort, show meekness, create a climate of charity, faith and hope.
Seek for and qualify for the voice of the Spirit everyday. This (motherhood) is a faith-based work. We must call upon our faith– faith in who we are, where we came from, and what we’re called to do.
In Moses 5:10-13, Adam and Eve review the blessings of mortality:
10 And in that day Adam blessed God and was filled, and began to prophesy concerning all the families of the earth, saying: Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God.
11 And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.
12 And Adam and Eve blessed the name of God, and they made all things known unto their sons and their daughters.
What else can I say? I felt so inspired by this talk, like it was a call to battle. It made me want to rise up and do better, be better. I know that our roles as mothers is so important, and our power and influence will be needed more and more as the world tries to destroy the faith we hold dear.
This video is from a different, previous talk by Sister Beck entitled “Mothers Who Know,” with clips set to pictures and music. It further solidifies the divine role of mothers. Hope you find its message as inspirational as I did. (It describes an ideal mother. None of us are ideal, but it sets a standard to strive for, not a measuring stick for guilt.)
I had a light-bulb moment the other day. You know how in the talk we’re studying this week for General Conference Book Club, there’s a quote from Joseph Smith about how revelation can come into our minds as “pure intelligence flowing into you”? It was one of those kind of moments. Pretend you’re interested.
I had recently finished writing a guest post for Mormon Mommy Blogs. (I believe it’s posting on the 30th– that’s this Thursday, but I’ll be out of town and won’t have internet access to point you all that direction, so GO there and make a comment so I don’t look like the guest blogger who shouldn’t have been.)
Anyway, I wrote a post about “Diapers and Divinity,” which obviously is the title of my blog, but it was mainly an attempt to explain my philosophy on motherhood in general, and the motivating principles for which I try to use this blog as a medium. So the thoughts were still fresh in my mind and I kept thinking and kept thinking about how majestic motherhood really is. I felt convinced that the simple things we do as mothers are really, really important, but I still felt like I was unable to articulate why. Moms are often caught up in (and discouraged by) the dreary details of motherhood, but surely there must be a deeper purpose in it than we see . . . or don’t see. And then the thoughts came.
Everything we do is meant to point us to Christ. All of those mundane things we do— the dishes, the diaper changing, the laundry, the booger-removal from walls and bedding, 🙂 all of it— are symbols of some part of the Savior’s atoning mission. Stick with me here, I’m trying to make sense. I’ve always liked this scripture in Moses 6:62-63:
62 And now, behold, I say unto you: This is the plan of salvation unto all men, through the blood of mine Only Begotten, who shall come inthe meridian of time.
63 And behold, allthings have their likeness, and allthings are created and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual; things which are inthe heavens above, and things which are on theearth, and things which are intheearth, and things which are under theearth, both above and beneath: allthings bear record of me.
Everything. That thought took me a little deeper and I began to recognize that all those ordinary tasks fall into categories of what Jesus Christ did/does for us:
He takes dirty things and makes them clean. “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” (Isaiah 1:18) Think about it: laundry, dishes, bathing, cleaning toilets, all fall into this category. Even changing a diaper becomes a poignant symbol when you think of it as taking a soiled child and making him clean, something the Savior does for us.
He turns contention, pain, sorrow, and hunger into peace, healing, comfort and nourishment. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavyladen, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28), “Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall befilled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh” (Luke 6:21). This could be a job description for mothers. We nurse wounds. We wipe away tears. We restore peace. We feed people.
He turns chaos into order. “I created these things; yea, in the beginning . . . And the earth was without form, and void; . . . And I, God, saw everything that I had made, and, behold, all things which I had made were very good” (Moses 2: 1-2, 31). As mothers, we create the world of our home. Our homemaking and housekeeping efforts take matter unorganized and turn it into home: a place of learning and existing as a family. We are creators.
Isn’t that amazing? Maybe some of you are thinking “Duh, I knew that,” but to me it was an entirely new and enlightening concept– a revelation that I participate in the Savior’s work when I do my simple mom stuff. It’s a struggle, but it’s supposed to be hard; the Atonement was not easy for Him either. But seeing those symbols for what they are and what they can point me to has made a big difference for me. So, like my little sidebar introduction says, join me in getting back to mothering with a renewed sense of purpose. That purpose— divine motherhood— is very, very cool.
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I’m headed to Women’s Conference at BYU for the rest of the week, so I’ll be pretty quiet on the Internet front. I’m going to post my GCBC comments tonight, so please keep that conversation going all week. The new talk will still go up on Sunday. I’m hoping to learn lots of cool stuff and come back and share it with you. Say a prayer for Matt’s four days as a single parent. (But don’t pray too much– I want it to be hard enough that my shoes seem unfillable. :))
Life as a mother of young children usually bounces back and forth between chaotic and monotonous, but there are occasionally profound moments that remind you of the power and importance behind what you’re doing, and without sounding overdramatic, your place in the universe. And so it was yesterday. We had a nice quiet Easter morning. The Easter Bunny came on Saturday, thus making it possible to have a nice, quiet Easter morning. The kids got dressed and we headed off to Church. By the time we got home, it was actually bordering warm outside, so they were anxious to play outside. Matt took them out to play while I stayed in and worked on getting Easter dinner ready.
I pulled my grandmother’s tablecloth out of the linen closet, and thought of her for a moment as I spread it across the table. I put the Easter lily in the center of the table, the one a checker lady at the grocery store gave us for free the other day because she said she “was just waiting for someone cute to come along.” (It had been partially broken earlier in the day, and the cute person she was waiting for was Natalie.) I couldn’t help but think it miraculous that it had held tight to its buds for several days and then chosen Easter morning to burst into bloom: As I wandered into the kitchen, I stood at the window and watched my children at play. The ham was in the oven. The potatoes were in the crock pot. The song “Lead Kindly Light” was playing from my iPod, and there was sunshine coming in through the window. I watched Clark precariously balanced on the monkey bars at the top of the swing set. He was determined to get from one side to the other, but the distance between each rung was more than his arms and balance could reach. I saw him slowly and deliberately sit on one rung at a time, lean to balance on his arms, and pull up one knee until his foot could reach over the rung. He would transfer the foot to the next bar and then pull all his body weight across the gap, teetering while his trembling arms balanced his weight. I felt anxious, half wanting to run out and save him from a 6-foot fall and a trip to the E.R., and half cheering him on. He made it across, lowered himself down onto the slide, and grinned proudly as he propelled himself back to the ground.
The thought occurred to me that this was symbolic of our parent-child relationship. As he grows older and becomes more and more independent, I will watch him through the figurative window. I’ll worry when he seems close to danger, and I’ll celebrate as I see him triumph. And then, with the leftovers of Easter lessons and thoughts floating around in my mind, I realized it was a symbol of the relationship I have with Jesus Christ. I try to be so independent, and sometimes I am clumsy. He could come rescue me each time I struggle, but He lets me work through things. He helps me develop the skills and confidence I need to face the next round of challenges. If I do fall, He always catches me and heals me. And He cheers me on all along the way as I try and try again.
I snapped out of my thoughtful trance and as my eyes refocused, I noticed for the very first time that buds had begun to grow on the tree outside my kitchen window. After a long and dreadful winter, and the thoughts I just had about my Savior, it was a miracle. That tree was the first real sign of Spring that I had seen, and a reminder of the power of Easter and the promise of renewal.
And all that happened in about 12 seconds or so. It really felt like a magical, transcendent moment with a soundtrack and everything, and then it was over. Natalie needed a diaper change, the table had to be set, and I found a rotten sippy cup that needed to be cleaned. But it was nice while it lasted, and it was a poignant Easter moment.
Week 14? Can you believe we’ve been at it that long? Welcome back to GCBC. Coincidentally, this talk ties in quite nicely with yesterday’s long-overdue post about Sister Beck’s Women’s Conference Talk. During the Sunday morning session of General Conference, Sister Barbara Thompson, Second Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency, spoke about the three directives that help us fulfill our divine role as women and how to implement them more fully in our lives.
Diapers and Divinity 