On Womanhood

Don't get me wrong, I am all about the empowerment of women!  I detest any justifications that surround the objectification that happens all too often.  I hate it.  I almost cried after viewing the Volkswagen commercial that played during the SuperBowl and I cheered when the commercial for GoldiBlox came on.  Women are amazing, capable, beautiful, talented and strong and I am so thankful to be numbered among them.  If you haven't tried womanhood out, you have to, because it is awesome!

Besides many of my emotions and thought processes, I differ significantly from my male counterparts and I truly believe that, "gender is an essential characteristic of individual pre-mortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose".  I have hips, breasts, and hormones that make me uniquely different.  And for that I am grateful. Besides these biological differences there are quite a few distinctions within my religion between males and females.  Recently, these distinctions have caused me to think and ponder on my sacred role as a woman.

I have yet to go through the temple, I am not a mother and I am not ordained to the priesthood but, I believe whole-heartedly that I have a sacred calling and mission.

I am a woman and I have the capability to bare children. I have the power to become a mother, something that men, biologically, will never be able to do or be.  When the time comes for my future husband and I to start a family, I will be connected to life at a level I can not even fathom.  Even now, I bleed so that one day I will be able to sustain and nurture a life outside of my own.  I will feel pain in order to bring life into the world.  I will ache and cry so that another human being can know joy, happiness, sadness, trials, and laughter.  If that isn't symbolic of Christ and His Atonement, I don't know what is.  My pondering has made me realize the importance of my role as a woman in building The Kingdom of God.  It is incredible and very powerful!

This blog post is simple. I know there are certain differences between myself and the men of this world and the men of my religion.  However, I am so thankful for these divine differences!  What a blessing it is to be different.  We balance each other out and help refine each other's character.  We are here to support and sustain each other as brothers and sisters.  I have never felt left out or neglected by God or the men who hold the priesthood--I have only felt uplifted and blessed and for that I am fortunate.  I am grateful for righteous and worthy men who lead and guide me and I am forever indebted to faithful women who do the same-- women of God who have raised me, served me and loved me.  

I don't know the meaning of all things but I know that God does everything in wisdom and order.  I have no reason to doubt, question or change the way He chooses to work and bless my life.  I am thankful for the experiences that help me understand my divine potential and I am grateful for the tools the Lord has given me to help me reach it.

My mother and I circa 1992.
The greatest mom and best example to me of a righteous & faithful woman. 

"When we understand the magnitude of motherhood, it becomes clear why prophets have been so protective of woman’s most sacred role. While we tend to equate motherhood solely with maternity, in the Lord’s language, the word mother has layers of meaning. Of all the words they could have chosen to define her role and her essence, both God the Father and Adam called Eve “the mother of all living”  —and they did so before she ever bore a child. Like Eve, our motherhood began before we were born. Just as worthy men were foreordained to hold the priesthood in mortality, righteous women were endowed pre-mortally with the privilege of motherhood. Motherhood is more than bearing children, though it is certainly that. It is the essence of who we are as women. It defines our very identity, our divine stature and nature, and the unique traits our Father gave us."

Are We Not All Mothers, Sheri Dew