mothers who know challenge

If there was one "anthem" for my life at this time, it would be "Mothers Who Know" by Julie B. Beck.

I thought how lovely it would be to hang a poster that read, "Mothers Who Know" in my laundry room. It is while scooping dirty clothes into the washer, that I most often need that reminder. But, I am not a graphic designer. So, I then I decided to create a picture that captured motherhood. But I couldn't limit it to one thing. This morning I thought of creating one picture for each paragraph from "Mothers Who Know." I wanted to have these words as part of me--in images and in words. Perhaps it has been reading the Sevenwaters trilogy, where the tradition and art of storytelling is key to their beliefs, family and culture. I read books to my children, but I don't often tell them a story. I don't have many things memorized. I love the idea of learning some key stories, scriptures, poem, and talks by heart.

I thought of Sister Tanner's talk "Learning by Heart:"

"I have learned that there are many benefits to memorizing. For me, personally, it deepens my understanding of the passage and fixes it in my heart. As you go over and over a passage in your mind, you think about it again and again. The richness of the words, the way they are put together, the possible symbolisms, the clever use of literary devices, and new meanings that you may never have noticed or understood before—all become apparent in the process of memorizing. Memorizing can put words in our hearts as well as in our minds. Learning by heart—which may be somewhat of a dying tradition—means to learn something so deeply that it becomes part of our core: it fills us; it changes us. Often my heart has been filled during early morning runs as I have gone over in my mind the words from “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” (Ensign, November 1995, 102), “The Living Christ” (Ensign, April 2000, 2–3), or some scripture or poem I was memorizing.

I had read the family proclamation many times and felt love and appreciation for it. But as I memorized each word and sentence, I began to see how it spoke in detail to each of the cultural ills that plague our society. I felt hope that the eternal truths taught in the proclamation could arm me as I faced current and difficult moral issues. I began to feel greater personal affirmation from apostles and prophets and from the Lord for the family choices I had made over a lifetime. I felt strongly the knowledge that we have a Father in Heaven who has an unfailing plan for us. I felt His matchless love and goodness. I felt, as it explains in Proverbs, that “the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding” and “wisdom entereth into thine heart” (Proverbs 2:6,10). My heart was filled with knowledge, understanding, wisdom, and love. This knowledge encouraged gratitude, personal improvement, and the desire to strengthen others."

I knew that I wanted to learn "Mothers Who Know" by heart.

Would you like to join me? Each week I will focus on one paragraph from this talk. One paragraph to memorize, ponder, and apply. I will also take a photograph to represent each paragraph (I intend to do this in a series--so they will all look very similar). I think that this could easily be expressed in any creative medium (remember President Uchtdorf's talk--we are ALL creative).