Today I started and finished "The Remarkable Soul of a Woman." It is only 51 pages long with plenty of pictures in between. It literally took a few minutes to read. But the message was powerful. I have wondered lately what my purpose as an individual is. I am a mother, a wife, sister, daughter, friend. But what else? I attended a Stake Relief Society activity a few weeks ago and I received answers to this question. I am a warrior, fighting for truth and righteousness. I am a teacher. I teach my children Gospel truths and help them put on the armor of God to become warriors in their own rights. But what else? Today while reading this book, something clicked for me.
"Creating and being compassionate are two activities that we as His (Heavenly Father's) spirit children can and should emulate." (p 19)
"But to what end were you created? You were created with the express purpose and potential of experiencing a fullness of joy. Your birthright-and the purpose of your great voyage on this earth- is to seek and experience eternal happiness. One of the ways you find this is by creating things." (p 25)
Oh, I loved that! My purpose is to experience joy! Wow! Not temporary happiness, like when you find the perfect skirt, but true joy that will last forever. I read on and my mind was filled with light and knowledge. I loved what he was saying. I feel joy when I have created something physical, like a scrapbook or redecorated an area of my home. I feel joy when I have created new knowledge in me by reading an uplifting or insightful book. I feel joy when I strengthen friendships or make a memory with my kids. I had never thought of intangible things like that as creating, but he defined creation as bringing into existence something that did not exist before. Oh the possibilities are endless! And that is empowering to me. It makes me feel like I can make a difference. I have the power to create and make things better than they were before. I guess sometimes we all, (at least I hope it is not just me) need a reminder of our worth and our potential. And this book did it for me! But it also made me see who I am more clearly. I am a daughter of God with potential to do remarkable things even if it is just one small act at a time. And in the process I will find true joy. Oh I love this Gospel! (hope all these thoughts made sense :)
5 comments:
Sounds like a good book to borrow!
That was beautiful! I needed that today! Thanks Kara!
does this come from a talk he gave? I remember something he said about being born to create. Sometimes I devalue my need to create - and things he talked about awakened me to that innate desire to experience the joy of creating beauty and that that can happen through my talents and interests as well as through my memories and experiences and interactions. Good review - I want to know more about it too...
Your thoughts always make sense Kara, and they're great! Sounds like an awesome book for women.
I need to get this book. I need to get feeling good enough to read again!
So, I totally remember that name when you were pregnant with Porter. I remember really loving Hazel. Thank you for reminding me about that cute name!! Now if I could just convince Seth...:0)
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