As women in the church, we know how special and amazing we are. We are daughters of a King. Each of us has a divine nature. We know that we are so special that even our Heavenly Mother is kept sacred. We have a unique purpose on this Earth that makes us pretty powerful. We are the vessels through which a new life is brought to this Earth and we are blessed with the power and strength it takes to do this as well as the tenderness and softness that we as women have.
But even with this knowledge it still amazes me when I really think about the power I have as a wife and mother. My husband is so smart. He has a master’s degree, does cardiovascular research for a living, know’s the scriptures and the gospel so well, and many more things. Even though he by far has so much more knowledge then I do, it is so funny to see that our kids always have to come to me for confirmation of everything that daddy tells them! I will hear him in the other room telling them some new thing and as soon as he’s done, they come running in telling me what he has told them and asking me if he is right! Even though they trust their dad, there is nothing that solidifies something more then if mom says it is so!
You have all heard the sayings, “If momma ain’t happy, nobody’s happy” and “happy wife, happy life.” Are these statements true in your home? It is crazy to see how my mood affects the whole family. I always know when I am too stressed and showing it because my six year old will start putting her hands on her hips and telling her younger siblings to be quiet and clean up and listen to mommy. When I start seeing that in her, I realize she is just following my example. There is no quicker way to change my bad attitude then seeing how it affects my children. But that is the power that we have as women.
Our power is so strong that it literally can change lives.
We are the example, we are the teaching force. We carve the path that our family walks on. And this is not just for our children but for our spouses as well. How many husbands would let things slide if we weren’t there keeping an eye out? I know mine would! (Sorry honey, you are still the best!) We keep our families strong.
This is why it is so important to realize the power that we do hold in our homes. To have this full “power” we need to know what kind of things we want and what we VALUE. This is one of my new favorite words. There are so many things that woman “should” be doing. Especially as members of the church. We should be wives, mothers, keeping our house clean, visiting teachers, having play groups, doing service, cooking dinner every night, going to the temple, exercising, decorating our houses from Pinterest, gardening, grocery shopping, teaching our children, scripture study, family prayers, etc. My list could seriously go on and on. It can be so overwhelming to be a woman!!! If these are all the things we “should” be doing, how do we feel when we don’t get everything done? It feels lousy and we start to forget about this awesome power that we do have. So instead of thinking about this list as things we should do, let’s change it and start thinking about what do we value?
One of my best friends values exercise. She gets up every morning at 6 am just to get her workout in before her kids wake up. I could never do that! And I spent a lot of time wishing I could be more like her and I even set my alarm early a few times with the hope that I would get up and be just like her. Well I can tell you that didn’t go so pretty! But that’s okay. Because maybe I don’t value exercise in the same way that she does. That doesn’t make her better or worse then me, just different. One of the things I really value is reading. Even if I can only read for two minutes it is still something I love to do. If we value it, we make time for it. And if we don’t get to it one day, that’s okay because we know we still love it and will get to it another day. We don’t feel lousy and that we failed because we didn’t get everything on our “should” list done. Think about the things you value and things you want to start valuing. If there are things we want to be better at, think about why and what kind of value it would bring to your life. And then do it because you want to and you value it rather then it’s something you should do just to check off your list.
As you do these things you value you will become that happy wife (or sister, daughter, whatever role you are in right now) and as the saying goes, have a happy life! This is the way to reach your full power and understand that individual worth that you were given before even coming to this Earth. Take this power that you have as a woman and use it in the best way for you. There is nothing more powerful then that!
Kara
