Woman

Adam and Eve

So God created Adam and Eve. In that creation he gave each of us special gifts and responsibilities.  We were made partners, interdependent and capable.

Adam, when tempted by Satan said “No” and walked away.

Eve when offered the fruit, asked questions.

Neither one had ever been lied to or enticed. It was a new experience but Eve from the beginning had a desire to understand and build relationships. She asked if there were any other way and then she accepted the fruit, partook that man may be.

And what was her reward?  She gets to submit to man, her husband.  She gets to support him, help him learn about relationships.  She who is very capable and smart. She who has a desire to love and nurture and help others succeed.  She gets to be wind beneath his wings. She gets to teach Adam the importance of caring for others, the importance of family.  

There is plenty she could do on her own but her desire is for others.  Like Christ. she hopes to enable others to achieve their greatest self and in doing so she becomes great.  

It is kind of like a mom that lets her children make breakfast on Mother’s day, or any boy open the door or give her a seat.  She allows some one else to experience service and success. It's not that she can’t but that in submitting, allowing someone else to be a part of the process, they create a team.

Men and women are different.  They each of strengths and areas that need to be nurtured to grow.  Our loving Father in Heaven has provided families so that we can have those opportunities for growing by doing those things that are most needful.

It seems to me that I, as a woman, need to be less prideful and independent  I need to learn patience as I watch another grow.

Maybe Adam and all men are learning to remember their stewardship as they are put in the position of provider and protector.

Planted in them is a strong desire for a woman.  A woman needs to be wise so that she does not exploit that desire.  In her ability to lead and guide and nurture, she gets to help him as well as children. She has a constant desire to work on relationships.  A man is given opportunities along the way to develop and remember his responsibilities.

I would say that even having to be worthy and receive the priesthood is one more tool in learning about relationships.  He has a formal reminder of his need to be worthy and then to bless the lives of others through this power of God shared with him.

A woman has many of her gifts given innately and subtly throughout her life.  She is a partner with God in creation. She gets to give life, raise children, connect with others on an emotional level. As a homemaker she practices creation and order in her own home. The spirit in her home creates a sanctuary or a prison. She has the power to make or break a relationship with her husband.  She influences him in his success and work. His ability to love, to trust, to see the good in others. The way she treats and honors him helps his relationship with God. As he becomes all those good things he becomes a way to teach the children of their loving Heavenly Father. She has much goodness already in her that she develops as she serves others and allows them to care for her.

A man is strong and good and true. He is filled with a natural desire to protect, to develop the skills that take risk so that he can protect and provide.  He is able to focus, zeroing in on a target. A woman sees the relationships, how things fit together. Neither point is exclusive and both have varying degrees of each trait but in general, and by design, a man and a woman are meant to be together. They are ;meant to create life, pursue happiness and be true helpmeets to one another.  

5 Things to know about Mother Eve
Lessons from Eve

Baby Girl!

That used to be what everyone wanted to hear.  What’s the baby?  We got a new baby girl in the family but we all knew she was at girl.  The part we didn’t know was when and how big.  Also this cute little family had not decided on her name.

They are such a great team.  They work well together and appreciate each other.

The tender joy they share after a long days labor was delicious.

 

This little (big) sweetheart is 20 inches long and 9 lb 7 oz.  Her big sister thinks the world of her.

Genevieve Shirlene!

temple flowers and Mother’s day

Mother’s Day weekend was a girls time as Debbie, Natalie, Elise, Rachel, Emily, and I got to come together and attend a Just Keep Rollin’ event with Meg Johnson, John Bytheway and Hank Smith.  We did our toenails stayed at a Air B&B and then attended Jaxynn’s farewell for Mother’s Day.  It was fun to be together and to have the support of husbands.

Emily’s baby is due this week.  We took a quick 4 generation picture with Ella and us.  I love the legacy of women that we share and the support and love that is felt as we share this journey of motherhood together and with each other.

Monday we got to go and help with preparing the flower beds on the temple grounds.  Once again I was asked to recruit a group and I am so grateful to be able to count on my family to help with projects.  They are amazing and so willing to serve, just jumping right in and having fun getting the job done.

Dee

Josh

Maddy

Lucy

Gideon

Sim

We brought donuts home and had a family dance party.

byu women's conference

I got to go to one of the 2 days of women's conference because a friend couldn't use both days.  She offered it to me and by some aligning of the planets, things worked out and i got to go.  Her family saved me a seat in the first session.  I was there alone.  For most women this is a very social event that they love to do with friends and family.

I have mixed emotions about being with a group.  It feels good to belong with someone but it is also very freeing to choose your own schedule and not have to coordinated anything.  It was a good day to be alone.  I enjoyed 2 of my classes, disappointed in one and just walked out of the overflow of another that had been a default choice to begin with.

It is such a great atmosphere filled with women wanting to fill their cups, experience learning and loving and be better prepared to meet the next day and each day there after.  It is also overcrowded and hard if you don't love lots of lines and waiting and overfull classes.

I am glad I went.  A unique experience I had was as I was walking to my car.  I headed over a long overpass for foot traffic.  Three women were also walking, one with a cane.  They were laughing and supporting each other.  The one said "I'm doing pretty well" and turned to me and said, "Don't you think?"

I was surprised. I admitted that I was not a very good judge of walking as I myself was a little wobbly after a long day.  I asked more.  One had had a hip replaced and the other a knee replacement.  The third was the patient one.  We laughed and I said well I had brain surgery.  It kind of quieted the conversation and they asked a little more of my situation.  I hope I wasn't trying to one-up them but to just share.

It keeps coming to my mind that we really don't know what others are thinking, feeling, conquering, submitting to, hoping for, dreaming of.  We just don't know what it takes to show up/or not show up.  We are just human, just moms...

But we do what we can and trust that others are too.  As Mothers Day approaches I see more and more people being sensitive to the harsh self judgments that so many women fall for.  Whether it is being a mom or not a mom, a good mom, a good person.  Often the old "Am I enough, will I ever be enough?" questions cloud our thinking.

For our Relief Society activity this month we watch the move Mom's Night Out.  Not to spoil it but the final message, that "a ha" moment was this very thing.  Recognize that we are created for a purpose, a rather simple purpose and the rest is just icing on the cake.  We can have joy therein.

Want to give a great gift, Love my mother. This matters to me as a mother and I love seeing my father love my mother.  It brings peace and purpose to me, to life.

To all women,

You are loved. You are beautiful. You are adding value to the world. You are enough. Keep growing. Keep shining. Keep loving. That is all you need to do.  That is where your power is. It might look different on each of us but we are all in this together. You are daughters of a king.  Heavenly Father loves you and Jesus Christ knows you are worth all that he did for us.

Love, 
Rebecca

I love this blog post about Mothers' in Zion.  It really is all about our choice to follow Christ and seek to be like Him.  Please take the time to read this article.

Brave and Kind

My 17 year old son bought a new shirt and as soon as it showed up he put this on all his social groups.  He came home with lots of signatures and support, both online and on his shirt.

He has struggled with this huge attack on men. I am confident that all men and boys do.  More and more girls and women are being affected directly or indirectly.  It is an epidemic that ruins relationships of all kinds.  

I am proud of his courage.  I know that he is in a good place.  He is winning this battle and that he will help others be strong and brave as he breaks through the silence and brings real conversations to more people.  When he first was "caught" and went to the bishop to confess and get help, our sweet and wise bishop praised him and explained the importance of learning to appropriately honor the drives a man has. He also helped him to know that nasty evil things grow in the dark. It is when we expose them to light (especially the light of Christ, light of truth) that it losses its power.  

We went hiking again this week and I was pleased to see flowers already blooming on the mountainside.  They are tiny. They grow on a rocky slope but they grow. They blossom and fulfill the measure of their creation and in doing so brought joy to my day. I love that they are not perfect or all the same.  They each just do their best and it is enough.

And they can share the space and one does not want to become more important than another.  Depending on who is looking, they will each find their favorite but even the rocks and soil have beauty.

We each are individual with our own journey.  We face challenges and choices.  We can choose to be brave and to be kind.

I am so grateful that the fight against pornography is not something anyone has to do alone.  We can support each other and become a force for good..  We are learning more and more of the devastating effects but with the atonement of Jesus Christ all things can be made whole again.  Clean and good.

Pushing back

Yesterday turned hard for no apparent reason.  I simply got feeling down, sad, discouraged..  For some reason those days happen.  I am so very grateful that my loving Heavenly Father provides me with light and truth, with comfort and help.  This early morning reading from October 2017 conference helps my determination to fill my day with light.

From Elder Ian S. Arden:

...we must do all we can to fortify ourselves spiritually against words of opposition and deception.

and that opposition and deception can come in so may different forms tailored to confuse and doubt. And he quotes Elder Rober D. Hales.

 “Unless you are fully engaged in living the gospel—living it with all of your ‘heart, might, mind and strength’—you cannot generate enough spiritual light to push back the darkness”

We are spiritually strengthened, fortified, and protected as we act on the word of God.  The greater the light in our lives, the fewer the shadows.

There is nothing to be gained in exploring the views and opinions of the less informed or disenchanted. The best counsel was given by the Apostle James:”If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God.”

 From those thin pages thick with spiritual insights, we learn truth through the Holy Ghost and thereby increase in light.

Though the dark I felt yesterday was not a direct attack on my faith in God, it was a subtle battle for the light and joy of life, of feeling I am enough. It seemed an effort to rob me of my desire to spend time with family and enjoy the moments of my day.  God wants us to have joy, joy in every day which comes with light—because of light I can see my day through the lense of eternity and feel His love for me.



I want more light in my life.
I want to welcome light and truth.
I will act in faith, pressing forward, having faith in Christ.  There I will find peace.

And as I invite more light I feel certain that I will be able to be more present. I can trust that the down days and the up days each have value and beauty.

visiting teaching retired, making room for something even better

I have struggled with visiting teaching.  Too often it was the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the law in both my giving and receiving.  My concern about the change to ministering is that it would be in name only.  I so want to have the spirit of the visiting and caring to be genuine and deep.

On Sunday I got to teach the 4th Sunday lesson about ministering.

What does it mean to minister?

What does ministering mean to the members in your ward or branch? To find out, you could write Ministering on the board and then invite members to write words around it that they associate with ministering. Members could find words or phrases to add to the list from scriptures like the following: Matthew 25:34–40; Luke 10:25–37; 2 Nephi 25:26; Mosiah 18:8–9; 3 Nephi 18:25; and Doctrine and Covenants 81:5. What do we learn from these verses about ministering? You could ask members to share examples of ministering they have seen. How can our ministering help meet people’s spiritual and temporal needs? How can it help people come closer to Christ?

It was and has been a privilege to dig deeper into how to minister to one another. I prepared by studying these above scriptures and then had a little fun with the story of the good Samaritan

Luke 10 (with a twist)

25 ¶ And, behold, a certain woman stood up, and tempted him, saying, Sister, what shall I do to
minister?

26 He said unto him, What is written by our leaders? how readest thou online?

27 And she answering said, Ministering brothers and sisters seek to help individuals and families
prepare for their next ordinance, keep the covenants they have made, and become self-reliant.

28 And he said unto her, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.

29 But she, willing to justify herself, said unto the Jesus, And so who do I minister to?

30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among
thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

31 And by chance there came down a certain ministering sister that way: and when she saw him, she
passed by on the other side.

32 And likewise a Mormon, when she was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the
other side.

33 But a certain nonmember, as she journeyed, came where he was: and when she saw him, she had
compassion on him,

34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him in her own car,
and brought him to an instacare, and took care of him.

35 And on the morrow when she departed, she took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and
said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay
thee.

Though I didn't take time to show this video, it was definitely on my mind.

Then before I taught I attended Sunday School where we were taught lesson 15.  Having read Matthew 25:34-40 about feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, clothing the naked (ways to minister), I was fascinated by the very way that Jehovah had done and does each of these things for us.

He cared for the Israelites. He had delivered them from bondage, provided manna daily, added quail, water from a rock, healing just by looking.  He provided the law of Moses as a similitude of the sacrifice of the only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.  He continues to do each of these things for us today. He provides us with the Bread of Life, Living Water, weekly renewing covenants with the sacrament, sacred temple clothing to cover our nakedness, Priesthood power to heal and bless and opportunities to sacrifce (giving something good for something even better).

Then he helps us rise up to a higher standard, a more worthy opportunity.  He asks us to do for others as he has done for each of us. I am called to serve with a companion as a ministering sister.  He trusts me to care for others, to seek and receive and act on personal inspiration. He offers everything I need to carry through with this sacred charge.  He is our companion, our help and strength and power in every step.  His grace is what makes it possible for me, a simple mess of a person but still His daughter to be His hands here on earth.  He is willing to work with me. He is willing to help me do good and when I fall short he makes it all work for our good and his glory.  It is amazing and wonderful.

For more about ministering visit:
Ministering with strength
and We are family.