Drops of Awesome

1. Its about how much you love (Including yourself)- an article about how we can sometimes gauge our worth on what we've accomplished or how busy we are. She mentions, "focus on taking care of yourself so you can take care of others."
* Love your children enough to serve them and to listen to their needs, even if these tasks don’t feel especially productive or impressive.
* Love yourself enough to take care of your own needs, even as so many other things are competing for your time.
* And love God enough to give Him some of that precious time, trusting that He will help you manage everything else.

2. Drops of Awesome and http://dropsofawesome.com/-  an article about a mom entertaining destructive thoughts and talking negative and mean to herself. She choose to focus on the positive. Kathryn Thompson states, "This started me thinking of all the times I do something good while beating myself up for all the times I haven’t been perfect. Its more fun to do good when you’re rewarded with joy, rather than being guilt-ed about every failure in your past."

3. Incorrect Perfection- God is concerned with my happiness, the happiness of my family, and our eternal salvation.

4. Uchtdorf- 2008 "Happiness, Your Heritage" The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. We develop ourselves and others when we take unorganized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty—and I am not talking about the process of cleaning the rooms of your teenage children. and remember that you are spirit daughters of the most creative Being in the universe. Isn’t it remarkable to think that your very spirits are fashioned by an endlessly creative and eternally compassionate God? Think about it—your spirit body is a masterpiece, created with a beauty, function, and capacity beyond imagination.

5. Uchtdorf 2010 "Of Things That Matter Most" One of the things we learn from studying the growth of trees is that during seasons when conditions are ideal, trees grow at a normal rate. However, during seasons when growing conditions are not ideal, trees slow down their growth and devote their energy to the basic elements necessary for survival.   it is good advice to slow down a little, steady the course, and focus on the essentials when experiencing adverse conditions.

 It may seem odd to think of having a relationship with ourselves, but we do. Some people can’t get along with themselves. They criticize and belittle themselves all day long until they begin to hate themselves. May I suggest that you reduce the rush and take a little extra time to get to know yourself better. Walk in nature, watch a sunrise, enjoy God’s creations, ponder the truths of the restored gospel, and find out what they mean for you personally. Learn to see yourself as Heavenly Father sees you—as His precious daughter or son with divine potential.

6. Beauty From Ashes sister Yee, Oct 2022 I have personally witnessed the miracle of Christ healing my warring heart. With permission of my father, I share that I grew up in a home where I didn’t always feel safe because of emotional and verbal mistreatment. In my youth and young adult years, I resented my father and had anger in my heart from that hurt.

7. Claim Blessing of your covenants- Oct 2013, Linda S. Reeves Why did the Lord let the beloved Provo tabernacle burn?  He didn’t cause the fire, but He allowed the fire to strip away the interior. He saw the tabernacle as a magnificent temple—a permanent home for making sacred, eternal covenants.⁴

My dear sisters, the Lord allows us to be tried and tested, sometimes to our maximum capacity. We have seen the lives of loved ones—and maybe our own—figuratively burned to the ground and have wondered why a loving and caring Heavenly Father would allow such things to happen. But He does not leave us in the ashes; He stands with open arms, eagerly inviting us to come to Him. He is building our lives into magnificent temples where His Spirit can dwell eternally.

D&C 58:4       “Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation.   “For after much tribulation come the blessings. Wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory.”

Sisters, I testify that the Lord has a plan for each of our lives. Nothing that happens is a shock or a surprise to Him. He is all-knowing and all-loving. He is eager to help us, to comfort us, and to ease our pain as we rely on the power of the Atonement and honor our covenants. The trials and tribulation that we experience may be the very things that guide us to come unto Him and cling to our covenants so that we might return to His presence and receive all that the Father hath.

I want to touch upon another way that can instill us with confidence and faith. We sometimes, as women, have a tendency to be very critical of ourselves. During these times we need to seek the Spirit and ask, “Is this what the Lord wants me to think about myself, or is Satan trying to beat me down?” Remember the nature of our Heavenly Father, whose love is perfect and infinite.⁶ He wants to build us up, not tear us down.