Years ago, I had the awesome opportunity to go to EFY in Provo at BYU. One of the classes was taught by Brad Wilcox who now is a General Authority in our church (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints). After his awesome class, I asked if I could take a picture with him and he (of course!) answered enthusiastically, “Yes!” I still have that picture, and feel especially excited when he speaks in General Conference.
Last fall, he gave a talk entitled “O Youth of the Noble Birthright.” It was a wonderful and inspiring talk, helping young Latter-day Saints understand their “Birthright” – their promised blessings and responsibilities from a loving Heavenly Father. I have 3 boys in those teen and pre-teen years and I thought it would be neat to put this message into a song to help them remember it.
Here is my expression of Brother Wilcox’s message in song. This is called, “Not an Ordinary Passenger.”
I’m feeling very spoiled. I was presented with breakfast in bed when I woke up, and then at church my eldest son gave a talk and paid tribute to me as his mother- what more could a mom ask for? And THEN all the children and teens in our church congregation (including my 3 boys) stood and sung to all of us mothers. The tears flowed freely and my heart was and still is so full. The title was “More than Enough” and its been running through my head on repeat today. It’s gentle, encouraging, and pays tribute to all the heart and work that goes in to being a mother. I thought I’d jump on and share it here. (See link below)
This week I’ve been thinking about how true it is that a mother’s influence is immesureable- not just in a superlative sense as we pay tribute to our mothers, but in a very accurate sense. My mother began mothering me YEARS before I can even remember being on this planet. Spent time caring for me, loving me, teaching me, cleaning up after me, guiding me, protecting me…
My memories of younger years don’t necessarily include what my mom was doing, but as a mother myself, I can see her hand in almost every memory I have. I stumbled over a verse in scripture recently that said something like “He was in and through all things.” It was talking about Jesus Christ, but I can’t think of a phrase that is more true of mothering.
Memories of camping? Who helped you pack? Bought the camera you used (and everything else for that matter)? Listened to your stories when you got home?
Memories with siblings? Who helped you develop those relationships and taught you to be kind? Whose idea was it to do that activity in the first place? And organized the room you were playing in?
Memories of school? Who woke you up that morning? Greeted you when you arrived home? Prayed for you while you were away? Packed your lunch? Wrote you a note? Helped you with the homework?
Memories of worshipping God? Who prayed with you before you can remember? Who created moments of strengthening faith? Who read scripture to you and with you day after day? Who took you to church each week when it would have been so much easier to stay home? Who showed you what it looked like to live a life focused toward God?
Not one of us claim to be perfect- it far too big of a responsibility to do it all “right”- and that was never the point anyway. The older I get, the more I give gratitude to God that I get another day to practice being a Mother. And I know God is pleased with those efforts to love, care and nurture, no matter how imperfect those efforts feel.
Happy Mother’s Day to my Mother who gave birth to me and is in and through my entire life.
Happy Mother’s Day to my Mother by marriage who has blessed my life in countless ways.
Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers out there – who are doing their best and tomorrow will get up and try again.
This week has been full of so many thoughts! One of my favorite has been about “Certain Women.” There is a General Conference talk by Sister Burton that talks about regular, ordinary women in the bible who were witnesses of our Savior’s ministry. Here’s a large excerpt from her talk:
“The New Testament includes accounts of [certain] women, named and unnamed, who exercised faith in Jesus Christ [and in His Atonement], learned and lived His teachings, and testified of His ministry, miracles, and majesty. These women became exemplary disciples and important witnesses in the work of salvation.”
Consider these accounts in the book of Luke. First, during the Savior’s ministry:
“And it came to pass … that [Jesus] went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him,
“And certain women, … Mary called Magdalene, … and Joanna … , and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him.”
Next, following His Resurrection:
“And certain women … which were early at the sepulchre;
“… When they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had … seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive.”
I have read and passed over the seemingly unremarkable expression “certain women” numerous times before, but recently as I pondered more carefully, those words seemed to jump off the page. Consider these synonyms of one meaning of the word certain as connected to faithful, certain women: “convinced,” “positive,” “confident,” “firm,” “definite,” “assured,” and “dependable.”
As I pondered those powerful descriptors, I remembered two of those New Testament certain women who bore positive, confident, firm, assured testimonies of the Savior. Though they, like us, were imperfect women, their witness is inspiring.
Remember the unnamed woman at the well who invited others to come and see what she had learned of the Savior? She bore her certain witness in the form of a question: “Is not this the Christ?” Her testimony and invitation were so compelling that “many … believed on him.”
Following the death of her brother, Lazarus, Martha, the beloved disciple and friend of the Lord, declared with what must have been great emotion, “Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” Consider her certainty as she continued, “But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.” She further testified, “I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.”
We learn from these sisters that certain women are disciples centered in the Savior Jesus Christ and have hope through the promise of His atoning sacrifice.
I am in charge of planning the music for Stake Women’s Conference coming up we have been thinking about including this song as part of the program:
Beautiful, right? As I thought about who would be the best individual or group to sing this piece, the thought occurred to me that we could do a type of flash-mob musical number…picture this:
Many lines of the song could be sung by individual women who stand up where they are, sing a line, handoff the microphone, and then walk to the front. Some of the lines (like” I am certain that he lives”) could be sung all together. As women throughout the room stand and sing one by one, and the group in front testifying grows, it will help us all see ourselves as those “certain women”- who are imperfect, yet capable of carrying out a great work. We are the certain women of our time!
There are times that this responsibility to be in charge of the music has felt stressful or overwhelming. Today my heart is full of joy thinking about orchestrating such an experience for the women of our area, and how fun it could be to gather with other women to prepare and enjoy spending time together.
This has been a wonderful weekend. It was Stake Conference weekend for us, so we had church meetings (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) gathering congregations from barely over the Canadian border to close to Spokane. There was one meeting last night and one this morning, both 2 hours long. I came away feeling that my soul had been nourished.
After those meetings (and a nap!) was a baptism. The girl who was baptised, Agnes, is in my primary class during the second part of church each week. More than that, our families have known each other for more than a decade and I’ve watched her grow up from being a newborn. She and I had a sweet connection when she was little- rocking her to sleep healed a part of me that I didn’t know needed healing. But that story is for another day.
One of the speakers at the baptism talked about this silly youtube video where a raccoon picks up a piece of cotton candy. Since Raccoons wash their food before eating, this raccoon washed the cotton candy and then looks perplexed because it has completely dissolved. He tries again, only to have the same thing happen!
Here is the video:
She then talked about how we can be washed clean from those sticky things in our lives because Jesus Christ in essence “dissolves” them when we repent. They are gone- and we can move forward. Isn’t that clever?!
That talk also reminded me of a line of a hymn that stood out to me last night in our church meeting. The hymn is “It is Well.” There is a verse that talks about what happens to our sins when we come to Christ: They’re “nailed to the cross and I bear them no more…” What a moving visual that is. I have thought about it in terms of sin, but today I felt differently about it as I contemplated other burdens I carry. They, too, are “nailed to the cross and I bear them no more” as I come to Christ.
I don’t think that means that we have to feel guilty if we carry a burden. The juxtaposition here is that sometimes we are called to carry a burden for a little while, and that’s part of our growing process- it’s part of what we came here to experience so we could grow and change. No matter how faith-filled we are. And even when we recognize that its time to move forward, letting our burden go and giving it to our Savior is a process- especially for big, challenging experiences in our lives. That’s all okay. It’s okay that it takes time to figure it out. We have a very patient Savior.
But I think there are times where tough experiences in our rearview mirror don’t need to burden us so much, and make it harder to move forward. For these situations, I think the hymn is so moving- for burdens of all sizes, shapes, and seriousness- “they are nailed to the cross and I bear them no more.” So much hope in one phrase.
Today I found an interview which was posted online in 2010 by mormonartist.net and highlighted the musical career of Crawford Gates (my Grandfather). There was one quote that was particularly moving to me and I wanted to share it here. Grandad was an extremely talented musician, but even more than that, he was a man of faith. This quote shows how completely he “let go” and allowed God to work through him.
As a composer, with all eight hundred and seventy-four pieces, I had two prayers. I have an “empty-page prayer.” I look at the page, and I’ve got to fill it with beautiful music. Where is that going to come from? I don’t have beautiful music within me. It’s got to come from the Lord, but he is going to give it to me. So the empty-page prayer is a prayer of supplication: “Help me do something beautiful for this need.” And that was certainly true with Promised Valley, that was certainly true with the Hill Cumorah Pageant, and that was certainly true with Joseph! Joseph!.
Then there’s the second prayer: I got a page. The Lord has given it to me. I get on my knees next to my piano or next to my desk. “Thank you for this beautiful music. Thank you, Heavenly Father.”
Two prayers: “empty page,” “full page.” It’s been that way all my life. And it may not be just one prayer, or two prayers; it’s a week of prayers, or a month of prayers.
MELODIES OF LIGHT 