Tuesday, April 06, 2010

Wo(man) Up Already

*some thoughts and the term woman up may or may not have been inspired and or stolen from others such as gurrbonzo (who said it so much better) not to mention the Sister Beck.*

Anyone else notice how much I have been complaining lately? Or how much I always have on this here blog? I'm single, boohoo, I'm stressed about my wedding, now I'm stressed about having a baby....boohoohoo. Who's the baby now? Not something that I have been overwhelming proud of, but that's okay because I justify that with the idea that I need to vent somewhere. So why not here? But seriously, what is my malfunction? I loved so much about my single life, I had fun, and learned lots. I loved my wedding (and planning for it), and I love my married life AND that I'm having a baby. Among many other things.

In other news, General Conference (the general bi-annual meeting of the LDS church wherein we get to watch at least 4 2-hour worldwide broadcasts in so many languages that is directed by the president and modern day prophet of the church) was, as always, grand. Uplifting and edifying messages about the family, the atonement, parenthood, and is it just me having a baby or was everything about parenthood this time around? The thing that didn't seem to be specifically about parenthood but something that I needed to hear nevertheless was Sister Beck, The General Relief Society President's talk about working for and receiving revelation and wo(manning) up.

Specifically the quote she shared by Eliza R. Snow:

"We want to be ladies in very deed, not according to the term of the word as the world judges, but fit companions of the Gods and holy ones. In an organized capacity, we can assist each other in not only doing good but in refining ourselves, and whether few or many come forward and help prosecute this great work, they will be those that will fill honorable positions in the kingdom of God. Women should be women and not babies that need petting and correction all the time. I know we like to be appreciated, but if we do not get all the appreciation which we think is our due, what matters? We know that the Lord has laid high responsibility on us, and there is not a wish or desire that the Lord has planted in our hearts in righteousness but will be realized, and the greatest good we can do to ourselves and each other is to refine and cultivate ourselves in everything that is good and ennobling and qualifying for those responsibilities."

Awesomeness upon awesomeness. Oft times (I sound so conferencey) we (I) get so caught up in the fact that I'm nauseous, or things are hard, or I don't want to go to work today, or it's raining again, and forget what truly awesome opportunities we have been given in this life. Like actually reading the word of God through the experiences of past prophets and called ones that are writing specifically for our time. That reading these things and praying and asking for the things and direction we need will give us these actual things from on high. That the blessings we already enjoy like knowledge of the gospel, a wonderful husband, a baby in my womb, a job with really excellent insurance, an awesome place to live, and job leads for that wonderful husband are just huge miracles in of themselves.

Not to mention the incredible sources of information we have at our fingertips these days. Information that helps us learn from others, from the past, and become more well rounded individuals when used correctly and when reading my blog, ha. I've been thinking about that lately. The combined resources we have of ancient scripture and civilizations, how they flourished and how they met their demise. Not to mention the more modern histories we have of the world, civilizations that flourished and then not so much. The things we can learn on grand and personal scales are nothing less than amazing.

And given these resources, wow, there is so much I can do. Despite a ridiculous economy that put a wrench in our immediate plans, despite the fact that I am tired all the time, and despite the fact that I think I am lacking the resources that I would like to have.

Shoot, my husband gets up every morning to make me breakfast, and makes me dinner every night, and when I'm feeling like a sick baby, he takes a walk in the blustery rain to get me some Pho to go, because that's what I want.

I still might make him praise me when I win one of my many games of Freecell or Solitaire on my phone though. Because that is really something praiseworthy.


3 comments:

Marcelina Moreno said...

I haven't watched any of conference...yet. Now I'm going to watch this one for sure.

PS I just now took the polish off my toes from our afternoon of beauty. It made me think of how you talked about turning 30. Don't be freaked out. I'm pretty sure that for as cool as I was in my 20's, turning 30 just magnified it tenfold...who sounds churchy now?

gurrbonzo said...

Oh, what an outstanding talk. And I totally believe in you and your ability to woman up. Happy gestating!

KirstieBirstie said...

Can I just say that I absolutely love Sister Beck! She came to talk to the sisters just in our stake and it was amazing. Everyone was expecting her to just talk to us, but she did a Q&A instead.

A lot of girls were asking questions about how to deal with the stress of the unknown future and problems having to do with feelings of failure, and she gave the most amazing answer. In preach my gospel there is a section on how to determine your success and it's full of questions like "did you feel the spirit today". I loved that answer and it's my goal to start asking myself these questions as a measure of my daily success.

And we definitely all need to rant sometimes.