Friday, January 30, 2015

In Line with the Divine

Obviously this gorgeous ocean image isn't mine—it's pretty much everywhere on Google. But I created the overall typographic design, so I copyrighted it—meaning, I copyrighted my design...I hope that's okay with our copyright laws! :) Anyway, it leaves me nearly breathless every time I look at it, and I just want to dive in and swim for days! 


For my ward's combined Young Women activity this past week, the Mia Maid class presidency decided to focus on Divine Nature. Our MM adviser found a darling activity somewhere on Pinterest that gave us the idea. I don't know where she found it, so I can't give the person/people credit for the idea. However, I feel we totally made the activity our own, so I decided to share it here!

My ward's Mia Maid adviser, class presidency, a few class members, and I came early to our church building to set up. We decorated a chalkboard and whiteboard with be you chalkboard banners and balloons. The girls—including my daughter—had so much fun blowing up two packages of pearlized balloons! We also set up a card-writing station—to write cards for those young women who weren't able to attend. And we had to have treats(!), so we set up a cookie-decorating station too. :)

Our MM adviser made/brought regular star-shaped sugar cookies—because our young women are stars(!)—and frosting. I made/brought gluten-free sugar cookies, and sprinkles, but my cookies were sadly round because the dough wouldn't hold up for rolling and cutting. I was thrilled that our MM adviser bought gluten-free frosting and didn't even realize it! Gf frosting definitely kept my daughter happy! Yes, I think our MM adviser gets bonus points in heaven for her good deed. ;) One of our Mia Maids even had her little brother make snicker doodles for us—they were a big hit! :)

We started our night by singing As Zion's Youth In Latter-Days—I was asked to accompany the Young Women on the piano and have been practicing quite frequently for our big debut at New Beginnings! ;) That said, playing As Zion's Youth has given me a bit of trouble. I think it's probably because I simply haven't played the piano as regularly as I used to—because Greg has been working from home for nearly a year-and-a-half and I frequently need to be quiet during the day. That bad habit of mine is absolutely going to change! I've really had such a wonderful time practicing As Zion's Youth—mixed in with other songs so my hands and brain get a bit more of a workout. Thus, I was thrilled when, yesterday, I had a breakthrough! I actually played the song three times completely without any mistakes! I'm not expecting that to happen the night of New Beginnings, but if it does, I won't complain. :)

*Side note about playing a song perfectly on the piano: I've been reminded through this experience that it's all about the fingering. If I don't get the fingering down, I'll be continually surprised with the end result of my song...i.e., it won't sound the way it's supposed to! But I digress...

Our Mia Maids' first counselor introduced the theme of Divine Nature—taken from the scriptures 2 Peter 1:4-7:
Be partakers of the divine nature. … Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
She was followed up by our Mia Maid class president who talked about what it means to be divine. We then had each young woman in attendance stand in front of either the chalkboard or the whiteboard to get her photograph taken! :) Before the photos were taken, we had many of our other young women write a word or two (in chalk or whiteboard marker) to describe the good/divine qualities they've noticed or admired in their friend. Some of the young women's descriptions were a little silly, but I'm grateful they had a good time. I hope they felt bonded with each other that night! :)

Last night, I had a wonderful time editing the photos that my Mia Maid adviser and I took. It was interesting to note how deeply I care about these darling young ladies. I mean, I've been in my calling (First Counselor in the Young Women Presidency) for nearly a year-and-a-half (almost to the day!), so I've had a lot of time to serve the young women of my ward—including my beloved daughter! Because of all the time I've given in their behalf, I can't help but feel so concerned for their happiness and well-being. I only hope they know how much I care and want them to be successful in their lives!

Anyway, here are the photos of our Divine Nature Night. (I didn't include photos of our young women to protect their privacy.) It wasn't fancy, by any means, but I think our night turned out super cute! Our Mia Maid class presidency did a great job of planning and following through! I was so happy everyone was dependable and did what they said they would do—three cheers for their success!

Notice my gluten-free sugar cookies protected under the bubble, and on the right side of the table away from the gluten! #supersafemom

I won't take credit for the cute Divine Nature photo on the table or the darling tablecloth, as I found the photo in our YW closet (thanks to our YW President!), and our MM adviser brought the tablecloth...I did, however, bring the napkins and knives! ;) 



Yes, I totally airbrushed this photo of me—don't judge! Ha ha. You see, the fluorescent lights were a bit harsh and I was just getting over being sick, so I looked (and felt!) really tired. *And might I say, those words on the chalkboard totally made my week! I especially love the word anything. I don't know exactly what the young woman was getting at by writing it, but hopefully it means that she thinks I can do anything! :)

Here are the finished cards our young women wrote for the girls who didn't come that night. I wrote a word on each card too, sealed them, and wrote their names on the front. I hope they enjoy reading those happy words!

As I researched being divine, I came across this quote, "...keep in mind anything that detracts from your divine nature should be avoided."– Glenn L. Pace. I completely agree with him. His entire talk "The Divine Nature and Destiny of Women" is really really good. In fact, I'd say it's truly excellent. I highly recommend everyone read it! :) 

In case you don't want to read Elder Pace's entire talk, please read this lovely bit (below)—it made me teary simply because I've tried my best to do those things for my own sweet children every single day of their lives. As a mother, do I say or do everything perfectly in line with the divine all the time? Of course not, but I never give up in my efforts! :)
"...the first woman in my life was my mother. How can I describe the impact of my mother’s love? A lullaby, being tucked in bed, are you warm enough, a kiss goodnight, Glenn, you’d better get up, you don’t want to be late for school, a kiss good morning, you are such a special boy, oh honey, how I love you, I made some chocolate chip cookies, I want to take your picture, I’m so proud of you, I know you can do it, are you going to go on a mission, you are going to go on a mission, I miss you so much, frequent love notes, let’s go look at the roses, did you see the full moon, aren't the mountains beautiful today, the love in her eyes, her touch, her smell, her elegance, her tender heart, her sensitivity, her femininity. 
That was just a blink in a lifetime of nurturing." – Glenn L. Pace
Isn't that so beautiful? I love his words! I also love the fact that his childhood experiences help illustrate there is no doubt that mothers positively influence and impact their children forever! :)

I'm just so grateful to have the opportunity to daily strive to improve my divineness. (Google is trying to tell me that's not a word, but you know what I mean!) I wish more people would seek to consistently be in line with the divine! Besides, what could be better than striving to become closer to our Heavenly Father (God)? Those impressive qualities only make us better people! :) If we have any question as to how to work toward that divine goal, we need look no further than our Savior, Jesus Christ! "...physically walking where Jesus walked is less important than walking as He walked." – President Thomas S. Monson, "Ponder the Path of Thy Feet", General Conference, October 2014.

Now my feet must walk upstairs and get back to cleaning my house. Le sigh...for you know I'd much rather stay in my cozy basement, seated at my lovely retro architect's desk, blogging all day! ;)

2 comments:

  1. I loved reading this. This very topic has been on my mind a lot lately. How I wish each woman (and man for that matter) truly understood and knew of their divinity and nobility. You are a beautiful example of both.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you so much, Shyla, I'm really glad you enjoyed it! And you are so kind to me—so thank you for that, too. However, I feel like I'm "preaching to the choir"! ;) Truly, you are an amazing woman, wife and mother!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for commenting! I love hearing from my readers! 😀
*Please note: any comment deemed inappropriate will be deleted.*