Before I get into the real content of this post, I just wanted to let you all know that the subscribe by email function that I have had on this blog will be discontinued. I was trying to find another way for my followers to get my blog by email, and so I did some quick research and found out that I only had 4 followers anyway, and one of them is the wrong address, and two of the other followers are my brothers, so really I have one follower who probably wouldn't get my blog posts otherwise. So, no need to fear. The discontinuation of the follower widget will not affect my reach to you guys. I literally reach no one. So that was a great discovery. The only way people know I have a blog is by word of mouth and social media posts.
An Empowered Woman of God
The thought for this post has come from several conversations I have had over the last few months and seeing posts about people leaving church, especially from women.
I've had a pretty easy life. I haven't gone through a ton of hardship, so this post may seem very inconsequential to those who have had a lot of hardships, trials, and oppressions.
In regards to my gender, or my sex, I am female. I was a female when I was born and shall remain a female until I die (and beyond). I cannot say that I understand transgender thought or feeling because I honestly have no idea what being female should feel like. The only thing I can think of is I feel the pain and emotional turmoil that accompanies bleeding once a month. Other than that, I literally just see myself as a person. And maybe it's less of a feeling rather than a knowing, in which case, I know I am a female.
I was raised in a fairly conservative family. To me, that means that all children in my home were raised being told that if they worked hard, they would reap rewards of that work. Boys were raised as boys, and girls were raised as girls. For my sisters and me, this means I was raised to learn how to cook, sew, clean, play instruments, garden, mow the lawn, play sports, build things, squish bugs, pitch a tent, etc. For my brothers, it was the same thing. We were all taught to do the same stuff.
I have a brother, who if you took me and him, the society's so-called gender roles and standards and whatnot would say that we had gotten our roles reversed. My brother is the tender, home-making child, and I am the aggressive, play-in-the-mud child. And that doesn't make either of us less boy or less girl. We were lucky to grow up in a home where we were allowed to be ourselves.
I was taught that we are all children of God. And that someday we can become like God if we put in the work and use the Grace and Atonement of Jesus Christ. God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). All are welcome to come to Him and to be like Him.
With all this said, men and women are different and have different roles. Every person is meant to use their specific talents to help and lift each other. In the church, men receive the Priesthood and women do not. This does not mean that women do not have authority. Women very much are expected to work with Priesthood authority to bless the lives of others. The Priesthood is an unselfish power and can only be used to bless others; one cannot bless himself with his own Priesthood power (with a few exceptions such as blessing the bread for the sacrament which one will take for himself and other random things).
In the latest General Conference, Elder Holland quoted the late Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley:
' "How tragic and utterly disgusting a phenomenon is wife abuse," he said. "Any man in this Church who abuses his wife, who demeans her, who insults her, who exercises unrighteous dominion over her is unworthy to hold the priesthood. ... [He] is unworthy to hold a temple recommend." Equally despicable, he said, was any form of child abuse--or any other kind of abuse.'
For more about worthiness to hold the Priesthood, here is President Hinckley's talk.
I feel like there is a lot I could add and there is so much more that people have questions about and that people have concerns about. However, the following is my testimony. The following is what I know for myself.
God has a purpose for me. I know what to do and where to go because I use my agency, and I also consult with God. I feel empowered and feel like I can do whatever He asks me to because it is His power, His Priesthood, that gives me strength to do what He needs me to. I am female and am a strong woman of God. And even though I don't always meet society's standards of womanhood, I meet God's and am exactly who He has intended me to be. He works with my strengths instead of mauling me with my imperfections. Just because I am a woman, I am not less than man, and I am needed just as much as man. We're different. And we are the same. It's really contradictory, but life isn't meant to be super easy to explain. I don't like I have any less power to accomplish my goals than if I were a man. I am a woman, and I feel empowered because I know what I want and trust in God.
God has a purpose for you. I know it. He knows you and wants you to know Him. We also have a loving Heavenly Mother, who unfortunately I haven't actually taken the time to know as well. But She loves you too. She is looking out for you. She loves you and wants you to return to Her. She is helping you out more than you know. And you are a blessed child of Mom and Dad.
