Mommy's Mantra: Faith in a Greater Help

I was asked to speak in church this past weekend, during the opening meeting. I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and in my church, public speaking is a pretty common thing. Regular members of the congregation are invited to speak every week. We all take turns. It is our way of learning from one another and spending time really studying and learning for ourselves. Usually you are given a subject to speak on, but this past weekend I was allowed to speak on whatever I chose. For me, that can be difficult because I have a lot to learn and a lot more to work on, so narrowing it all down to one 15 minute presentation is tough. I won't share my whole talk that I prepared for church, but I wanted to share a small portion because it has been such a big part of my week.

I decided to speak on prayer. No matter your faith, prayer is a pretty universal practice and one that can really set the tone for your day, your decisions, your life. I haven't been giving my communication with Heavenly Father that proper time and attention He or I deserve, so I spent this week putting in a little extra focus. It is interesting how changing one small part of your life can make such a huge difference. By improving my personal relationship with God, in just a couple of days, I saw a change in my relationship with my husband, my daughter and even myself.

One of the most important aspects of developing a relationship with God or with anyone is recognizing that it isn't all about you. A relationship is two way and for it to be successful has to be selfless. In Mormon lingo, we call it "aligning your will with God's will." This can very difficult for me sometimes. I love to negotiate. I love to bargain. I love proving my opinion to others. My husband can attest. But you don't negotiate with God. You don't kneel and tell Heavenly Father what He will do for you.

This past week Audette and I were in the yard, getting dirty and cleaning out the weeds. I could tell Audette was at her breaking point because she was covered in dirt, her shoes were off, her bag of goldfish was almost empty and with every step she took, she would let out a little cry of pain. She’s kind of a drama queen. I finally gave in and decided to clean up and take her inside, but I couldn’t find one of her shoes. We searched everywhere! Well, I searched everywhere, as Audette stood crying from the porch. I even dumped all of the yard waste out of the trash can, just in case it had been thrown in with the mix. It was a mess. I kept saying over and over in my head, “help me find her shoe so I can take care of her,” or “if you would just help me find her shoe, then I could put Audette down for a nap.” Finally it hit me, “Darien, just take care of your daughter.” So, I took her in, gave her a bath, cuddled her and put her down for a nap. I walked straight outside and as I looked in the yard, I saw the shoe. The first thing that came to my mind was, “I’ll take care of you. I'll provide for you. I'll give you everything you could desire and more, if you do it in my time and my way.” This may seem like a very silly example, but for me, alone in my yard, I had a very simple realization that I needed to be selfless, listen and be directed in every aspect of my life. Especially poignant at this time in my life, when I have been asking for some divine help with some important matters for the course of my family and my career.

“We don’t move God to our point of view. Prayer is less about changing our circumstances and more about changing us.”

You may not pray, or you may be like me and prayer sometimes slips out of focus, but I can not think of a greater Father to rely on when it comes to being a mother and raising my family.