It occurred right after Oliver Cowdery and Joseph Smith received the Aaronic Priesthood and baptized each other:
74Our minds being now enlightened, we began to have the ascriptures laid open to our understandings, and the btrue meaning and intention of their more cmysterious passages revealed unto us in a manner which we never could attain to previously, nor ever before had thought of.
How amazing it would have been to go back to the scriptures after being baptized and receiving the priesthood and seen a marked difference in your ability to discern truth and understand the scriptures!
Do I take that for granted, the gifts I have been given to increase my understanding of the scriptures? The Priesthood in my home? My baptismal covenants? God truly does want us to learn and grow! My kids have asked before why we pray before each class...it ends up that we pray several times a day this way :). I tell them it is so that the Holy Ghost can increase our capacity to discern truth, remember it, and apply it. I know that the Holy Ghost can enlarge our memory. I just need to trust that what I get is enough and not worry about what I am not remembering and go forward in faith...
...even with tired mom-brain :).
I still remember sitting in a Thomas Jefferson Education seminar when I had four little kids six and under (Isaak was in heaven at this point), and having them tell me that education was a life-time ability, and that I had a mission, unique and specific to me and my talents. A mission, granted, that included motherhood, wifehood and sisterhood--all with a little flair that was "Mary-ness", with my unique set of talents, weaknesses, and abilities. Kind of like a quilt :). The motherhood, wifehood and sisterhood are the quilt--very general in definition; my personal way of doing it, embracing it, and creating it are the pattern of the quilt. I have had people be disparaging about "missions," claiming that the pursuit of such is a competition with our "other" roles.
I disagree. I believe discovering our God-given mission includes those roles. It was as I have pursued my talents with my family, seeking to inspire and include them, that I have found an increased satisfaction with my role as a mother. It became less generic, less like trying to figure out what "the right way" was. It was as I asked myself, "what can I do to serve my family and learn at the same time?" that a whole new world has been opened to me! Pursue what you are passionate about...with your family. It looks a lot different than an exclusive, "all-about-me" ambition that I see in the lives of so many women...like what they are happy and passionate about (you know, what "fills their cups") has to be distinct from their roles of womanhood. Why not include it?
For instance, I love art...love to do it! However, my time doing it is a little limited :)...not to mention the potential mess. Yet, I have tried (and am still trying) to draw, sketch, paint and even have little art classes with my kids, knowing that my role as a mother is not only to meet immediate needs, but to inspire them to try things. It has been mainly when I am drawing next to them on my own project that I see them get excited about it and try harder to do something more with it. When I welcome them into the project, not shut them out, worried that they will mess it up or are "competing" with my desire to create, my ability to mother increases, as does my ability to pursue a talent. Cool stuff!
Similarly, with my piano playing, when I have tried to put in a little more practice time here and there, showing a struggle in trying to master a piece, or playing to fulfill my own needs, my kids see the patience, struggle, and joy that come with piano playing and their time on the piano increased.
However, when I seek to find fulfillment outside my role as a mother, it feels wrong...for me at least. I pursue learning in politics because I want my children's freedom to be preserved. I study to inspire my children and be able to teach them in their homeschooling...woohoo! Love to learn!
Anyway, I digress, but I know that the presence of the priesthood and the Spirit can increase my capacity, and that I can find satisfaction in my role as a mother as I explore my unique ways of being a mom and inspiring my family! :)
me too
ReplyDeleteI've noticed too that when I follow the spirit in what I'm doing and serve faithfully, that doors have been opened for my children. The first time Adam was hired for camp, the camp director told him he was hiring him because of his mom. And I'm glad he did his best and put his heart into it so he could show he's good to have around on his own merit too. I feel like it's another confirmation that I'm doing what I'm supposed to.
ReplyDeleteThat is so cool! Adam is fantastic at it, so that is wonderful that you were instrumental in giving him that opportunity to begin. How awesome to think that sometimes, we, as parents, can be the doorways for our children to go where they need to go, just by being ourselves!
DeleteMom of the year :)!